Angel Wings
by Beeder
Summary: Angel, a sixteen year old girl, is mutated against her will by the goons of Sacs Inc. Faced with a lifetime of serving Sacs Inc with her newfound powers, she runs, only to find the Turtles held captive on the floor below. Will she find a new family among the Turtles, or will she end up as a personal pet for Sacs himself? Disclaimer: I do not own any of the TMNT characters.
1. Chapter 1: City Girl

Chapter 1: City Girl

I was walking home from school, just like any other day. I knew something was off, though. I couldn't name it, but I had the strangest feeling in my gut. As I walked I listened in on passing people's conversations to pass the time.

"…telling you, they've created mutagen! I heard they were experimenting on turtles. That's what all the ruckus was about with Sacks Industries and everything. Remember when the news went wild and that O'Neil lady…"

"…don't like coffee. It makes me too hyper. I drink tea instead…"

"…explosion at Sacks Construction. There's a bunch of camera men and police officers and everything. I wonder what happened... Yeah, it's off of 14th and Main…"

 _'_ _14_ _th_ _and Main? That's near my house!'_ I took off sprinting. My family and I had just moved in to New York City a few weeks ago, but I was already familiar enough with the streets to know several good shortcuts home. My backpack was bulky and awkward on my back as I ran, so I dumped it in the nearest alley and noted its position so I could come back for it later. I hopped a couple fences and ran through back alleys as I neared home. I guess I was so intent on the path in front of me that I didn't notice the men blocking my way. Whatever the case, I rammed into one of the men, who were all dressed in black and were all heavily muscled, and landed ungracefully on the asphalt.

"What the- What do you think you're doing, kid? Hey, aren't you…?" The man I bumped into turned to face me. He was wearing a mask that covered most of his face, was wearing all black, and carried a large gun in his grip. Instinctively, I tried to back up, but he grabbed me before I could get away.

"Hey, Boss!" he crowed as he lifted me into the air with one arm. "Is this the girl you was talkin' about? The 'test subject' or whatever?"

"Put me down, you creep!" I said as I struggled to get out of his iron grasp. That was particularly difficult since my feet were hanging a good three inches off the ground. A much smaller man than the one holding me walked over to us. He was obviously the one in charge here, despite his small stature. A red insignia covered the headband he wore across his forehead: a footprint. Only then did it hit me that I had literally just stumbled into a gang of Foot ninjas. Great. Just great.

The small man spoke. "Put her down, Jason. I don't think she's…" His eyes narrowed as he studied me carefully. All at once, he stiffened and his eyes grew cold. "It's her." He whispered to no one in particular. My stomach sank. How did these guys know me? What were they going to do to me? Why did I suddenly have the impression that things just got a heck of a lot worse than I thought they had been. The small man straightened suddenly and gave a series of small hand motions to the men surrounding us. Wordlessly, they split into groups and ran off in seemingly random directions. Jason, the creep who had lifted me off the ground, looked at me with something like sympathy, then threw me over his shoulder and started running.

"What the- Hey! Put me down! Let me go you- Help!" I screamed. I was pounding his back and fighting as best I could from my awkward position, but to no avail. I was scared. More scared than I had ever been before. I didn't know why these men wanted me or how they knew me or where we were going or even who they really were. My heart was pounding so loudly I was positive you could hear it on the other side of the city. I screamed and cried as Jason ran, fighting for all I was worth, but to no avail. After a few minutes, Jason darted into an alley, threw me on the ground, and pulled out a strange-looking dart gun.

"Sleep well, Angel wings." He said as he pointed the gun at me. I heard a loud _POP_ as the trigger was pulled, felt a sharp pain in my thigh, and had enough just enough time to watch Jason pull out a cell phone and put it to his ear before I lost all consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: New Birth

I awoke with a massive headache and a strange feeling of being completely wet. I also felt like I was floating, like I was in water. I shook my head, but the motion was slow and I felt resistance. I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry, like I was looking through really thick glass. I looked down and nearly had a heart attack as I took in the scene unfolding before me. I was floating in a giant class canister filled with a strange liquid with a pink tint and was in nothing but my boy shorts and camisole. Test tubes were running the length of my body, some drawing my blood while others put some unknown liquid into me in its place. A mask connected to the top of the tank covered my mouth and nose, which explained why I could breathe. A chain attached to the bottom of the glass cage was locked around my ankle and made sure I was in a constant state of being submerged underwater.

My breath came in short gasps as I felt the panic set in. Mt fists pounded the inch-thick glass cylinder surrounding me, but the tubes hindered my movement and the pink water lessened the impact of my fists. I tried screaming, but all that came out was a muffled cry. Monitors in the room outside picked up my increased heartbeat and started beeping frantically. A nurse who looked to be in her mid-thirties peeked her head in the door on the opposite side of the room from me. When she saw me, her jaw dropped in surprise.

"You aren't supposed to be awake yet. What are you doing? Stop thrashing around like that! You'll mess up the mutagen flow." By this time, the nurse had stormed into the room and was typing frantically on a computer hooked up to my water-cage.

"Help!" I cried. "Please, get me out of here! Where am I? What do you want with me?" A dozen questions tried to force themselves out of my mouth at once, but thanks to the mask and the pink liquid, all that the nurse heard was a jumble of gargled words. She clucked her tongue and ignored me, shaking her head.

"Honestly, do all mutants have to freak out like this? Her vitals are way off, thanks to her little fit." The nurse talked to herself as the finished typing.

'Mutants?' 'Mutagen?' What was going on here? Suddenly, the white sterile walls and unforgiving steel-topped tables and giant monitors in the room surrounding me looked very unwelcoming. What was this place, some sort of sick lab owned by a maniac psycho who experimented on unsuspecting New York citizens? All at once, everything was just too much. I started crying as I pleaded with the nurse to set me free. When she continued to ignore me, I gave up pounding at the glass and curled into a floating ball in a strange liquid with test tubes sucking all the blood out of my body and replacing it with something called mutagen.

It was a strange sensation, crying while in water. Your body went through all the same motions that would usually result in racking sobs and tears streaming down your face, but you never got the pleasure of feeling your tears trickle down your cheeks and fall from your chin, watching as your sadness steadily escapes your body and falls onto your shirt. I don't know who long I was there, adding my salty tears to the pink liquid surrounding me, but eventually the nurse left. After a few moments, she came back with a tall man in a black trench coat and sunglasses. I recognized him from the news: Mr. Sacs, owner of Sacs Industries, Sacs Construction, and Sacs Enterprises. He was one of the wealthiest men in the nation, and easily one of the most well known. What was he doing here?

I tried to compose myself, but it's not easy to look dignified when you're scared out of your mind, floating in pink water, hooked up to at least twenty test tubes literally sucking the life out of you, and are wearing nothing but your underwear. Sacs studied me carefully, taking in everything from the mutagen traveling sluggishly from the test tubes into my bloodstream to my short, spiky hair floating in the liquid.

"How long has she been like this?" he asked the nurse. His voice was cold, calculating, devoid of any emotion.

"Awake or in the process of being mutated?"

"The latter."

"Two weeks, sir."

My heart skipped a beat. _'Two weeks? I can't have been asleep for two weeks! That's physically impossible…right?'_

"How close is she to complete mutation?"

"One month, sir. Give or take a few days."

"Are you sure this one will work? I won't accept another failure."

"Yes, sir. The mutagen Master Shredder provided was more than enough for what you wanted. Her test results are exactly as they should be."

"I should hope so, for your sake" Sacs growled. He gave my trembling form one last look over before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. The nurse let out a deep sigh and turned to me.

"I'm really sorry about this." She said. Before I could ask any questions, she pushed a button on the computer and an electric shock ran through the liquid in my tank. The shock ran up and down my spine, filled my mind, and before I could scream in pain, I blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3: Caged

I don't remember much of the next month. I was woken up periodically by the nurse, who checked my vitals and made sure I wasn't getting sick, then zapped me unconscious with an electric shock. As the weeks went on, my back felt heavier and heavier with each time I woke up. Finally, the nurse got distracted for a minute and I got a chance to examine myself. I was painfully thin, my cami now loose and saggy as it hung from my shoulders. I guessed I had lost at least ten pounds since I was captured. Something tickled my leg and I glanced down, just to see a massive, jet-black feather brushing against my calf. I reached down and tried to lift it up to eye level, but the feather was attached to others, which were attached to a wing, which was attached to…me. I craned my neck, trying to convince myself that this wasn't really happening, that I didn't have two massive, midnight-black wings sprouting from my shoulder blades. A scream escaped my lips, which caught the attention of the nurse. She took one look at me and sent the electric current through the water.

At long last, the day came when the when Mr. Sacs returned. By then, my wings had doubled in size, taking up most of the tank. He looked me over approvingly.

"She has developed well. Is the mutation complete?"

"Yes, sir. All her tests say she should be completely capable of service at any given moment."

"Good. Consider the moment given. I want her ready in an hour."

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes. I am sure." Sac's voice left no question of his determination. He left just as suddenly as he came, his trench coat swishing around his ankles. The nurse, obviously flustered by his sporadic appearances and disappearances, tried in vain to smooth her hair down before turning to me.

"Looks like it's your lucky day, Angel wings." She pushed a button on her computer and the liquid in my tank started draining.

 _'_ _Why does everybody keep calling me Angle Wings? That's not my name!'_

The test tubes, which had stopped working several days ago, extracted themselves from my body, leaving tiny open wounds all over my legs, arms, chest, and neck. Tiny drops of blood streamed from a few of the cuts, leaving bloody trails as they ran down my bony body. Within minutes, the pink liquid, so long my prison, drained, and I was left struggling to stay standing up in a puddle of my own blood. The nurse came over to my tank and pressed her hands against the glass. A key pad appeared on the glass surface. The nurse carefully entered a pass code and the glass sank into the ground, leaving me standing on a metal pedestal raised a foot off the ground. With wary eyes, the nurse reached down and picked up the chain wrapped around my ankle. She pulled a key out of her pocket and undid the shackle around my ankle. The metal, which had been rubbing against my skin over over a month, had bitten into my skin and rubbed it raw. An ugly ring of raw, bleeding skin circled my ankle. I never took my eyes off the nurse as she slowly straightened and reached up to take off my mask. I let her remove what had been my life support for the past eight weeks and watched her place it on a nearby table. I took my first breath of fresh air in weeks and shuddered at the unpleasant smell that filled my lungs. The air smelled of chemicals, blood, and something I couldn't name. The nurse shifted nervously from foot to foot as she watched me get used to my new body.

My wings hung limply from my back, dripping pink sludge onto the floor around my metal altar. My body was painfully skinny, my shoulders sharp and bony. I'll admit, I was a mess.

"Come with me, please." The nurse's voice shook as she spoke. Why was she so afraid of me?

"Come with you where?" I heard my voice crack from lack of use, but the lack of trust contained there was evident.

"To a different room. We'll get you cleaned up a bit and run a few tests. The mutagen now contained in your blood had done some miraculous things to your body."

"Like what?" I was feeling really dizzy and felt like I could collapse at any moment, but I refused to show any sign of weakness.

"Like superhuman strength. Like an acute sense of sight, hearing, and smell. Like a heart three times stronger than any human has now." The nurse looked me over as she spoke, no doubt marking off a mental checklist of some sort.

"You mean, I'm a…a mutant? Like those giant turtles that O'Neil lady was talking about a few days ago?"

"No!" The nurse's head snapped up and her voice went up several octaves. "you are not like those..those beasts. They grew up wild and untamed. You, you shall be groomed to utter perfection. You will be a servant to a noble cause. You will help Mr. Sacs purge the city of evil and get rid of those vile turtles once and for all. Despite what you may think, those creatures are an enemy to mankind. They will stop at nothing to ruin the human race."

The nurse was practically screaming at me now, ranting on about how awful those wretched turtles were and how I was going to work for Sacs and about how thankful I should be that I have the chance to serve Sacs Industries. My anger built up slowly at first, growing slightly with each word that left that evil nurse's lips. She had imprisoned me and tortured me for months and now she was telling me I should be grateful?! All at once, something inside me snapped. My wings, still dripping pink fluid, shot into the air, lifting into a menacing arc behind me. My fists clenched and my heart pounded and I resisted the urge to scream back at the nurse.

"Who do you think you are?" I said quietly. "What makes you think that you can even talk to me? Why should I listen to you? I am not grateful and I never will be." That shut the nurse up. Finally, I had a chance to speak my mind. "You have beaten me, abused me, and changed my entire life without asking me whether I wanted it to change. I don't know where I am, who you are, what happened to me, or what's going on. I want you to go away. I never want to see you or anybody else ever again. I want to know what happened to my family, and I want to know NOW! Do you hear me?! I am sick and tired of being treated like an experiment!" I leapt off the metal pedestal and stormed toward the terrified nurse as she backed away frantically. My wings pushed over tables and chairs as I approached her, but I didn't even notice that I was leaving a trail of destruction in my wake. "I want you to change me back! Get this mutagen out of my blood and change me back, you witch!" I shouted in her face, my eyes filled with terror and rage.

The nurse was backed up against a wall. I was three inches away from her face, wings spread out around me so she couldn't escape.

"P-please!" she stuttered. "Do-don't hurt me! I never w-wanted this to happen!"

Suddenly, an alarm went off. Another soon joined it. Within seconds, the entire room was filled with screeching alarms and spinning red lights. The sudden noise made the nurse jump, then she fainted. The intercom blared at me: "BREACH IN THE FRONT GATE! ALL SUPPORT GROUPS TO THE FRONT GATE! BREACH IN THE FRONT GATE! ALL SUPPORT…" Here I was, dripping wet in pink goo, in nothing but my underwear and a tank top, with fully fledged jet-black wings sprouting from my back, and an invasion was going on. My day just kept getting better and better. I grabbed a long white lab coat hanging on the back of a nearby chair and threw it over myself, hiding my wings a best I could. To my surprise, they folded neatly against my spine, arching just above my shoulders and continuing down to about mid calf. The lab coat covered the majority of my wings, leaving just the top few inches and bottom feathers peeking out. I ran to the door and peeked outside into the hallway, which was filled with red light as the alarms screamed. I saw no one, so I took a chance, threw the door open, and bolted.


	4. Chapter 4: The Great Escape

Note: Despite similar situations and characters, this chapter has nothing to do with the most recent TMNT movie and is purely of my own design. It does not fit in with any TMNT story lines, I just liked the characters they used and their personalities.

Holy cow, I was _fast_! I was going so fast that I missed the corner and slammed into the adjacent wall with full force. I felt something in my shoulder pop and a searing pain shot up my arm. Dislocated shoulder? Oh, well. I turned and ran, pacing myself this time. I peered into each room as I passed, seeing more than any human could. I saw everything perfectly, each minute detail. It was incredible and overwhelming at the same time. Finally I found what I was looking for: the security room. Three men were sitting in chairs in front of a wall of high-tech computers showing security footage from around the building. I scanned the footage quickly, looking for what was causing all the trouble. Then I saw it, or them, I guess. In the middle of the cargo bay (which was apparently downstairs) was a giant turtle in a ninja mask fighting at least seven men at one time. The containment cells (this floor) had two of the turtles in glass cages. They were unconscious and slumped against the sides of their cells. The last turtle was nowhere to be seen. I leaned into the doorway to get a better view of one of the screens and my shadow fell across one of the seated men. He looked up quickly, saw my reflection in a computer with a blank screen, and shouted in surprise. I froze, unsure of what to do. The man who had spotted me reached under the desk and brought out a gun, which was pointed at my head.

He fired.

I ducked.

He missed.

I ran.

I ran and ran and ran, faster that humanly possible. Through hallways, up stairs, around corners, I ran. At one point I tripped over the lab coat and hurdled to the floor. My head made a loud _thunk_ noise when it collided with the tile and I saw stars. I lay there for a moment, heart racing, not thinking clearly. _'Why are those men trying to kill me? What were the giant turtles doing here? Why do I have wings, again? I am I a mutant now, like the Turtles? Who even am I? I…I can't...I can't remember my own name! I…I… my head hurts…"_

So I lay there, curled into a ball, lying on a hard tile floor, sobbing, too afraid to move or do anything. I felt a warm trickle of something wet drip through my hair and onto the floor. Blood, probably. I didn't really care, until I heard the voices. Deep, gruff voices. Mean voices. Mean voices coming from mean men. I got up and ran, leaving a small puddle of my own blood where my head had been a moment before.

"There she is! Get her! She can't leave this place alive! I SAID MOVE!" A voice echoed off the walls and down the hallway to my ears. There were at least five of the mean men chasing me. Why were they chasing me? I almost ran straight into a set of heavy double doors, but stopped myself just in time. They were locked from the inside, much to my dismay. I spun around frantically, looking for another way in, but I had run into a dead-end hallway. I banged on the doors, hoping against hope that they would open, but they didn't. I threw my body against it over and over again, but the door refused to budge. This was it: the end. The men were going to catch me and kill me and there was nothing I could do about it.

The doors opened.

I had no sooner stepped into the room when the doors swung shut behind me. The door bolted itself shut within seconds, leaving me completely alone in this strange room. A faint electronic buzz filled the air and was accompanied by some light beeping. I was too exhausted to look around at the moment, so I sunk onto the floor and caught my breath, letting the cool air envelope me. After several minutes I decided to look around. The room wasn't empty, as I had previously thought. It looked eerily similar to the room where I was mutated: Blindingly white tile floors, stainless steel tables, lots of computers everywhere, wires trailing around the floor like snakes, a single window on the far wall overlooking a depressing-looking courtyard. I couldn't hear any commotion from the other side of the double doors, so I assumed I was safe for the moment. Some instinct told me to scout out the place before I moved. I glanced up at the ceiling, focusing on the corners and sure enough I found a security camera on my left. I was just out of its line of vision, luckily, so I inched along the floor until I was directly underneath it. Once I reached the camera I stood up. The camera was still a good four feet above my head (I was only 5' 3"), but I could read the buttons on the side clearly. One read _on_ , another said _off, forward, backward,_ and the last one read _freeze._ I assumed they put that last button there for when the police were going over camera footage and wanted to study a certain frame, but right now that button was made just for me. Using opposing forces, I shimmied up the corner of the wall where the two walls met, pressed the _freeze_ button, and dropped silently to the ground. Now, whatever the security guards had been watching thirty seconds ago was all they would ever see until I pressed the _play_ button again. The same image was frozen on the screen, but nobody else knew that but me.

I followed the beeping noise, feeling proud of myself for fooling the guards. It led me to a series of four computers, each hooked up to…

 _Containment cells…_

They were the same containment cells I had seen in the security room screens a few minutes ago. My eyes traveled from the computers to the actual cells, and sure enough, there were the two turtles I had seen on the screen. They were massive! Even when they weren't standing, I could tell they were at least a foot and a half taller than me. They were heavily muscled, covered in green scales, and surprisingly human. I approached one of the cells carefully, my bare feet making no noise on the tile as I walked. The turtle in this cage had a dirty blue mask on. His chest rose and fell steadily as he slept, a strangely calming motion. I walked over to the other cell, which held an orange-clad turtle. He looked younger than the other one, but was still just as intimidating. He shifted onto his side, mumbling in his sleep like a child. I smiled, remembering my own family, specifically my little brother. He used to do the same thing… but they were gone now. I knew deep down that I could never return to my family, not after my mutation. I put my hand on the glass and rested my forehead beside it, fighting back tears.

"You're not alone, you know" a weak voice whispered. I jumped, my head turning to the cell beside me. The blue-clad turtle was watching me carefully, studying me. Only then did I realize he hadn't been sleeping before.

"Who are you?" I asked

"A friend." he answered simply. I laughed bitterly.

"I have no friends. Not after what they've done to me."

"What happened?" he spoke slowly, thinking about every phrase before he spoke. I felt like I was a puzzle he was trying desperately to figure out. It reminded me of how Mr. Sacs had looked at me this morning and I got defensive, refusing to be hurt like that again.

"Why should I tell you? Are you going to laugh and jeer at me like the nurse did? Do you want to hook me up to a machine and literally take my life away, replace it with something else? Is that what you want? Why am I even talking to you?!" I was screaming at this point.

To my surprise, he laughed softly at my reaction. "Laugh at you?" he asked "I'm the freak here, not you. Do you really think I would laugh? No. I asked because I am genuinely curious. You are not the first to be wounded by Sacs, and I fear you will not be the last. Why are you talking to me, do you ask? Because I am willing to listen."


	5. Chapter 5: A New Home

I was caught completely off guard. His words hit me like a punch in the gut. What did I do now? Do I trust this stranger, this mutant, or do I walk away. Walk away to what, though? More tests? No. No more tests. Not now, not ever. I trusted him, for some unexplained reason. Almost unconsciously, I shrugged the lab coat off my shoulders and let it fall to the ground. My wings opened up slightly into a more comfortable position, showing this stranger what I had become: a mutant like him. His eyes widened when he saw me and I gave him a halfhearted smile.

"Wow," he breathed. "they're incredible. If only Donnie could get a look at you… he would have a heart attack."

"If only I could see what?" a voice asked. I spun around, surprised to see a third turtle on the other side of the room. Apparently he had come in through the ceiling, as told by the gaping hole above him. The turtle, Donnie, caught sight of me and gasped.

"So you're the one… amazing. Look at those wings! At least a twelve foot wingspan! I wonder…"

"About time you showed up." The blue-clad turtle spoke to Donnie, taking his attention off of me for a moment. I threw him a grateful glance, and he responded with a small smile.

"Sorry, Leo," Donnie laughed, "but I got caught up kicking a few of the guards' butts."

"Sure you did. Can you get Mikey and me out of here now? They've been taking blood from us for a good half hour. I think Mike's in a coma…" Leo's head drooped and he struggled to remain conscious. Only then did I notice the large tubes running from his body to several large glass cylinders that were being filled slowly with blood. The turtle in the other cage, Mikey, had a similar set up hooked up to his already unconscious body. Donnie took one look at the whole scene and a dark look came over his face. He strode over to the computers controlling the holding cells and began typing frantically, his three-fingered hands flying over the controls.

I panicked, the flight part of my fight-or-flight instinct taking over (no pun intended), and I crept over to the massive hole in the ceiling Donnie had made when he came in. I stood beneath it, wondering if I should leave while I could or if I should stay and help these strange creatures who were now biologically closer to me than my own family.

My family…

I froze, remembering that I could never see my family again, at least not face to face. My heart skipped a beat and an indescribable despair took over my entire being. I stumbled backward until I hit the wall and covered my mouth, trying desperately not to scream. Sobs racked my body as I silently writhed in despair. My family meant everything to me, and now they were, in essence, gone forever. I felt utterly and completely alone. I went numb, not feeling the broken glass beneath my bare feet or the giant empty hole that now filled my heart where my family should have been. Something caught my eye and my gaze flicked upward to the turtles, who were almost free of their glass prisons.

"Hold on there, bro. Almost done…" Donnie pushed the last button on the computer and the doors to the holding cells popped open. Faster than humanly possible, he slipped into Leo's cage and undid the shackles holding his brother inside. He then carefully removed the tubes from Leo's body and moved on to Mikey, who was finally stirring.

"What the… grroff me… leavemee 'lone… don't wanna getupyet…" he mumbled. The purple-clad turtle ignored his weak protests and freed him from the shackles and tubes. Leo, standing on shaking legs, was getting out of his cell. Donnie threw one of Mikey's arms over his shoulder and helped his brother to his feet. These turtles were family. They were brothers. They would never give up on each other. Tears blurring my vision, I stood and slowly walked to the trio, still on guard for any unwelcome surprises. My gaze locked wit Leo's, but I did not have the strength to speak, nor the will to try. Thankfully, he seemed to know what I was trying to do.

"Come with us." He said. I nodded, but did not say anything. Without saying another word, he took off, straight for the window on the far wall. Before I could do anything, he flung himself out of the window and into the night. I rushed over, peering out of the now shattered window.

"Is he insane?!" I asked Donnie. "He'll kill himself!"

"Actually, we're only on the fifth story. A fall from this height might hurt a human, but it won't do him much damage." With that, Donnie picked up Mikey onto his shoulders fireman-style and leapt out of the window. I watched in amazement as he landed gracefully on the ground five stories below. He motioned with one arm for me to jump too. I heard voices outside the door and before my mind could convince me otherwise, I grabbed my lab coat from the floor and threw myself into the night.

I didn't fall, like I should have. Instead, my wings snapped out on instinct and I rocketed upward. It was amazing! My wings worked of their own accord, powerfully flapping through the air. I was effortlessly racing through the nighttime sky, oblivious to everything around me. After a minute, I circled back to the turtles and landed ungracefully on the grass beside them. Donnie stared at me with his mouth open wide.

"That… was… incredible."

"As incredible as our new friend might be, we really ought to be going. Raph just got here and he brought company," Leo panted.

On cue, a fourth turtle, much bigger in size than his brothers and masked in red, burst through the front gate on the opposite side of the clearing. He was laughing, sprinting away from at least two dozen guards who were hot on his tail. I shrunk back, hiding behind Donnie and Mikey. I heard fighting, then silence. Peeking out from behind Donnie's shell, I saw the last turtle stand in the midst of two dozen unconscious guards. He was breathing heavily, but wore a triumphant smirk on his face.

"'Bout time you showed up, Raph." grumbled Donnie, shifting Mikey's weight around on his shoulders.

"I would have come sooner, but those creeps were asking for it. I couldn't resist. Who's the pigeon?" Raph asked, motioning to me. He holstered his weapons, two wicked-looking sais, and sauntered over to us. I sidestepped until I was hiding behind Leo, suddenly very shy of the new addition to our party. Leo said nothing, just shook his head slightly. Raph didn't press the matter further, but I could tell he still had questions. On a silent command, the four turtles took off running. Leo grabbed my wrist and yanked me along behind him. I soon got my footing, however, and effortlessly kept up with their speeding pace.


	6. Chapter 6: R&R

I don't know how far we ran, or where we were going. I kept my head down and followed the turtles' lead. At some point we entered a storm drain and ran through the sewers, out feet splashing noisily in the water. I started to tire, my breath coming in short gasps. I slowed, and Leo slowed to match my pace. Donnie threw him a worried look. He was obviously worried about Mikey, who had still not woken up. Leo nodded, and Donnie passed us, racing toward our unknown destination. Raph soon joined him, leaving me with Leo.

"We can stop." He said softly.

"I'm fine."

"I don't believe you."

I looked up, surprised at his comment, but he said nothing more. We padded on, slower than we had before. After I caught my breath, I asked him, "Why don't you believe me?"

"Today you started a whole new life. That's not east to accept at first, believe me. Plus, you look dead on your feet. Remind me to call April when we get home. She will help you get cleaned up so Donnie can take a look at you."

"Who's April?" We took a sharp left into what looked like a dead end, but Leo didn't stop. Right before he hit the wall, he leaped into the air into a passage above the part of the wall the dim light illuminated. A huge passage way lay just out of the light, wide enough for us to walk side by side. I jumped, but fell short, my hands barely touching the bottom of the passage. I grabbed onto the wall and tried to pull myself up , but my arms gave out. Leo grabbed my wrist and hauled me up with surprising strength. He seemed surprised too, for some odd reason.

"Don't' take this the wrong way, but how much do you weigh?" he asked, genuinely curious.

His question took me off guard. "Um… 130 pounds, I think. Why?"

"You don't feel that heavy… Oh, well." He began walking and I followed him, clutching the filthy lab coat around me like a blanket. Leo started talking to fill the silence.

"April is one of our very few friends who live topside. She's not mutated like us, so she can do things for us that only a human can do. Being a six and a half foot tall turtle doesn't exactly go unnoticed in the human world. Anyway, she should be in the lair waiting for us and will be able to help you get bandaged up."

"I'm not hurt, really. Just…shocked."

"When was the last time you looked in a mirror? You're hurt. Badly. You must not feel it because of all the adrenaline in your body. Either way, we're here. Welcome home."

Sure enough, we had come to what looked like a large hole in the ground. I peered into the hole, which ended in blackness. Leo hopped into the hole without so much as a second glance, leaving me alone in the tunnel. I never heard him land but his voice floated up through the blackness.

"Jump! I'll catch you!"

"I'm not sure if I trust you yet…" I spoke softly into the blackness, but he heard me and chuckled.

"I guess you'll just have to trust me anyway. The fall's not that long."

I figured that if I was willing to follow these creatures into the sewers and trusted them enough to not kill me on sight, I could trust Leo to not drop me. I jumped, feeling the air rush past me. Sure enough, Leo caught me a split second later. He set me gently on my feet and gave me a moment for my eyes to adjust. At the end of a short tunnel was a warm light, leading to a room filled with the rest of the turtles. I walked toward the light slowly, not trusting myself to not freak out at what I saw. The room looked surprisingly normal, with a large TV in one corner, a doorway leading to a kitchen, another to a bathroom, and four bedrooms in a second story above the main level. A staircase curved up the length of an entire wall leading to the upstairs. Comfy armchairs and an old couch took up most of the living room. An old wooden table occupied a majority of the kitchen, but a sturdy looking refrigerator hummed along in the corner. A massive computer set sat in the back corner of the living room, its many screens providing security footage from different parts of the surrounding sewers. It looked eerily similar to the security computer in the lab, making me shudder internally. Other than that, the underground home looked welcoming.

"Leo! Thank goodness you're back. You had me worried." A clearly feminine voice came floating out from one of the bedrooms above us. I looked up, surprised to see a human woman looking down at us from over the handrail. She wore a sporty yellow pea coat and black skinny jeans with some knee high boots. Her dark brown hair framed a pretty face with knowing, brown eyes. She took one look at me and her eyes widened. Without saying a word, she hurried down the staircase toward us. I glanced up at Leo.

"Is that…?"

"Yeah, that's April."

"Oh,… okay."

April hurried over to us, staring at me with wonder. I shifted uncomfortably under her intense gaze. "Oh, sorry," she apologized, her gaze softening. "You're just so… wow."

"Freakish?" I offered

"Actually, I was going to say stunning."

"Sure you were."

"No, really. I-"

"April, please," Leo interrupted us gently. He was leaning heavily against the wall. "Can you check on Mikey on me and show out friend here where the bathroom is? I need to sit down for a minute. Have you seen Splinter anywhere?"

"Not recently. I just saw Mikey a minute ago and he was doing better than how he came in. You all have some serious explaining to do. Now," April turned to me, "If you'll follow me. The bathroom is right around the corner. I think I have some spare clothes that might fit you. Remind me to go shopping tomorrow."

I noticed that she liked to talk. She rambled on and on as she led me to the bathroom. I shut the door quickly, reveling in the alone time. The shower was cleaner than I would expect one to be in the sewers, thankfully. I turned on the hot water and got undressed while it warmed up. Leo was right, I was hurt. My shoulder was an ugly purple color and my feet were a bloody mess. My head wound left a bright red spot on the side of my head, and dozens upon dozens of cuts and bruises covered the length of my body from where the test tubes had been hooked up to me. I felt smaller, physically, mostly because of my massive wings that dwarfed me in height. Steam finally came from the shower, and I hopped in gratefully. It took several minutes and many rounds of body wash for me to wash the day away and even longer to finally relax. The water rolled off my wings without drenching the inner layers, no matter how long I kept them under the water. When I stepped out of the shower, I was surprised to find a large towel and some new pajamas sitting on the toilet seat when they had most definitely not been there before I got into the shower. I decided not to question it. The PJ's fit surprisingly well, though I had to roll up the pant legs a few times so they didn't drag. The top was a tank top, so I didn't have to worry about my wings, though putting it on was a nightmare.

I walked out of the bathroom, trying in vain to yank a brush through my tangled hair. It got so stuck that I could let go and it would stay attached to my head, bobbing every time I walked. I left it there, not even trying to undo it, and sat in one if the armchairs in the living room. A blanked lay on the floor, so I snatched it up and curled myself up into a ball, cocooning myself in its warmth. I couldn't tuck my wings in anywhere, so I moved them out of the blanket and folded them around myself, forming a protective shield of black around my entire being. It was pretty sweet, being in my own little ball of warmth. I soon got really hot, though, and peeped my head out from between my wings for a breath of fresh air. Donnie was standing right in front of me with some funky glasses on that made his brown eyes look huge, studying me intently. I shrieked in surprise and snapped my wings shut, hiding myself deeper in the blanket.

"No, no, no! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, honest. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. Leo told me you got pretty beat up back there."

I folded my wing back slightly so I could see him. He held his hands up in the _I surrender_ gesture and was giving me a crooked half smile. I was going to have to get used to this new life I had, living around mutants.

"Right. Sorry about that. I guess I'm still on edge from, you know… everything." I folded my wings back and let the blanket drop. Donnie drew a sharp breath when he saw my battered body.

"Geez, kid, what did you do, run into a bus?" asked a voice from above us. Raph watched us from the balcony-type hallway above us. He was already covered in bandages most likely put in place by Donnie a little while earlier. I shied away from his gaze, still intimidated by him.

"Back off, Raph. It's not like this is the life she would have chosen for herself. Besides, she came out looking better than any of us did after our first real fight," pointed out Donnie, rolling his eyes. He turned back to me and offered me his hand. "We can go into my lab and I'll get you fixed up in a jiffy. You're going to need some serious R& R after tonight."

"Okay, sure." I took his hand and padded after him into a room I had not seen before. He walked in and headed immediately for a large metal cabinet. I froze, oblivious to Donnie's questioning look when I did not follow him in. The room looked almost exactly like the lab I had been mutated in. I physically could not make myself go in there, not right now. My eyes met Donnie's frantically, and he seemed to understand because he gathered all his supplies in his arms and left the room quickly, shutting the door behind him.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Wasn't thinking. We can, um, go the kitchen, I guess. This way,"

"Thanks," I murmured. Donnie wet out his supplies on the counter and helped me up. He looked surprised for some reason as I settled myself on the counter.

"Random question, but how much do you weigh?"

"Not again. Leo had the same question. Last time I checked, I was around 130. Why?"

"You most definitely do not weigh that much. Hold on a second while I go get a scale. You couldn't possibly…" he hurried off into his lab again, this time coming out with a simple scale for me to stand on. He set in on the ground in front of me and I slid down onto it. The needle wavered around for a moment, and then finally settled on 48 pounds. _48 pounds!_ No way! I was supposed to weigh three times that much! How in the world…? Oh, right. I'm a mutant now.

Donnie shook his head in disbelief. "Incredible. Your bones must be hollow, like a bird's. That would explain the flying and the tiny body frame."

"I'm not that small, thank you very much. 5'3" is not that short."

"Hey, kid, I don't know the last time you looked in a mirror, but you'd be lucky to be considered five foot nothing. You are, by my definition, tiny. Now hop back on the counter for me so I can fix you up. Do you want me to get the brush out of your hair or…?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about the brush. You're welcome to try," I hopped back on the counter, "but it's pretty stubborn." At that exact moment, April walked into the kitchen.

"Don, Mikey just woke up. Thought you should know."

Donnie took off, calling Mikey's name as he ran. It was amazing to me to see how much these brothers cared for each other. April cleared her throat, catching my attention.

"Want some help with the brush?" she asked.

"That would be appreciated." I couldn't help feeling more willing to let another human mess around with my head than a giant turtle. April smiled and strode over to the counter. I turned on the counter and lowered my wings so she could reach my hair. She talked as she worked the brush gently from my scalp. Almost on instinct, she began smoothly brushing through my hair once the brush was free. I thought about stopping her, but decided against it. The rhythmic motion was calming, and I was perfectly willing to let her deal with my hair and save me a heap of work. Maybe my new life wouldn't be so bad after all.


	7. Chapter 7: Old Memories

Donnie came back into the kitchen a little while later, obviously relieved. Mikey was going to be fine, he just needed rest. Well, that and food. My stomach growled at the mention of food, making me realize that I had not truly eaten in months. April set the brush on the counter and disappeared as quickly as she had come, yelling something over her shoulder about Chinese takeout and pizza. Donnie chuckled and turned his attention to me, taking every last injury in. Before long, he was wrapping me in bandages and covering various bruises and such with salves and ointments. Apparently I had three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a minor concussion, and was in shock from the evening. Altogether understandable, all things considered. My wings were in pristine condition, albeit a little tired. Donnie agreed with me that the x-ray he wanted to take and everything of that sort could wait until I had gotten used to my new body.

Covered in various creams and bandages, I left the kitchen at Donnie's consent and snuggled back into my armchair, content for the moment. I didn't hurt as badly, but I was still starving. As if on command, April walked in with several bags heaping with various kinds of food. The smell wafted over to me and made my mouth water. Without thinking, April handed me a Chinese takeout box and some chopsticks. "Eat." She said simply, and then shouted to no one in particular that dinner was here. Almost instantaneously, Raph and Leo ran out of their rooms and hopped over the rail down to the second floor. April had to jump backward so she didn't get trampled as they dived for the food. Too my utter astonishment, she proceeded to smack Raph on the head, scolding him for his lack of good manners. He just rolled his eyes and sat himself down on the couch with a box of pizza on his lap. Leo soon joined him, stealing a piece from the box before Raph could stop him. I smiled to see them goof off like that. It struck me that they didn't seem all that older than myself, despite their monstrous size and superhuman build.

"So kid, do you have a name?" Raph looked to me as he spoke. I swallowed my food quickly and responded with a small voice, "Not one that I remember. I probably had one before I was changed, but I have almost no memory of my past life besides my family and the night I was taken." Raph asked me about my family, and I grew more confident as I continued, remembering my family with amazing clarity.

"My dad was a contractor, getting good money from his job. He worked most of the time, but he loved to have fun with my siblings and me whenever we could. Every Saturday night he would take us all out to the movie theatre for a show and a treat. We would go really early so we could sit in the very back row and watch everybody come in and find their seats. For some reason, we thought it was fun. My dad's name was Daniel.

"My mom was a part time substitute teacher for the elementary school where my little brother went to school for kindergarten every morning. She would bake cookies every Tuesday and make us the most amazing lunches to bring to school. She wanted to paint the kitchen a cool green color, but Dad read the label wrong when he got the paint so we ended painting the kitchen a pale yellow that seemed to glow in the evening when the sun set. Her name was Sarah.

"My little sisters Kim and Andie were identical twins, but Kim's eyes were more blue than Andie's and Andie's hair was darker than Kim's, so I could always tell them apart. They did everything together, from playing dolls to playing soccer. They were in fourth grade.

"My little brother Austin was four, but his birthday is next month. His favorite color was blue, baby blue. He loved Superman and Thomas the train, but hated sports. He loved to finger paint in the afternoons. He hung paintings all over the house, and Mom actually framed a few and put them in the attic as memoirs. His favorite food was cheese and crackers with pickles on the side. His best friend was named Grant… they were so cute when they played outside.

"My cousins lived across town and my family and I would go visit them every Sunday night after dinner to play board games and have ice cream…"

I went on like that for a long time, telling everyone about my past life. Strangely, they never interrupted me, but listened attentively. At one point, Donnie and Mikey (who was now awake) walked into the room and sat on the surrounding floor, also listening to me ramble on. For some reason, I couldn't stop talking. It wasn't like I was trying to fill the silence or anything, but it felt strangely good to remember how my life used to be. I went into every little quirky family tradition, from wearing pajamas inside-out on Christmas Eve to drinking chocolate milk in hollow chocolate bunnies on Easter to having doughnut-eating competitions at family reunions.

My voice soon grew sore and the food grew cold, but still I went on. I painted them pictures of my house, my school, my summer vacations, my favorite season, and my fondest memories. When I told them about the last time I had seen my family, I started tear up. The emptiness inside me threatened to rip me in two, but still I went on. I had to get this off my chest. Finally, I finished. It wasn't a grand ending or anything, but I was done. Mikey, who had successfully eaten an entire pizza by himself while I spoke, sighed in content.

"Well, now I've got a new friend to tell me about the world topside. I mean, no offence, April, but your stories are really boring."

"They are not! Since when is the news boring? Why, just last week…"

Just like that, my moment in the spotlight was over. Mikey and April started arguing about how interesting rocketing gas prices were while Donnie claimed he had to do something in his lab. Raph gave me a curious look before jumping into the quickly escalating argument. Leo, on the other hand, kept his steady gaze on me, his eyes filled with something like wonder.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked him over the chatter. He shook his head and laughed.

"Quite the opposite. That was beautiful. You are lucky to have such fond memories of your past life. It amazes me to hear stories from the topside. Your family sounds nice."

"Yeah, they were. Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do now. I can't go back to them, but I don't want them to think I'm gone forever. I mean, I didn't even get to say goodbye." My head drooped in sorrow. My situation looked so dismal from my point of view. I couldn't let my family think I was dead, but I couldn't make myself put them in the danger that would come from them finding out about my mutation. At the same time, I also couldn't make myself stay away from them for the rest of my life. They were my life, my everything.

The rest of the evening went smoothly. We finished all the food April had brought and spent a good portion of the night telling stories and exchanging jokes and bad puns. April had to leave around midnight, claiming she had to get up early the next morning and wanted to get some sleep. Mikey also went to bed early, soon followed by Raph and Donnie. Leo showed me where an extra bedroom was for me to sleep in. It was about as big as my room I had at home, but the walls were all brick and the ceiling was lower than usual. Being shorter than usual, that didn't bother me too much. The bed was big and comfy, with a giant comforter and two massive pillows and the head. I thanked Leo for showing me in and shut the door to my new room. I didn't care much for cleaning it up at the moment, so I threw myself on the bed and slept like a dead person.

I woke up early the next morning to the smell of pancakes and bacon. I followed my nose downstairs into the kitchen, where Raph was cooking enough food for a small army. He didn't look nearly as intimidating with an apron on and a frying pan in his grasp. No one else was awake yet, so it was just me and him. I asked if I could help at all, but he didn't have anything for me to do, so I sat at the table while he cooked. I examined the table, worn by years of use covered in scars. To me, each of the marks held a memory, and I was dying to discover their secrets. I heard a huge yawn behind me and turned to find Mikey sluggishly making his way into the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes and sat down beside me, mumbling something resembling a good morning. Raph slid a plate onto the counter heaped with pancakes and eggs. "Help yourself," he said, nodding toward me. "I suggest you eat before Mikey gets his appetite back. There won't be any food left once he starts eating."

"Um, okay. Thanks." I said, picking up a fork. Raph was a good cook, and I mean a _really_ good cook. I ate until I thought I would pop and thanked Raph for the wonderful food.

"No problem. Maybe now you'll actually get some meat on those bones of yours."

I blushed, unsure of how to respond. Thankfully, Leo waltzed into the room, saving me from what was sure to have become an extremely awkward situation. I quietly excused myself from the table, giving my seat to Leo. He accepted gratefully and piled some food onto his plate. I smiled. It was funny to see these four turtles act so… normal. Walking out into the main living room, I found my armchair vacant and quickly filled it. While I had a few moments to myself, I opened my wings slightly and studied them as best I could. Like I had thought before, they were pure black and had feathers easily a foot long. Underneath the main feathers was a layer of soft down that was incredibly warm and fuzzy. I tucked my wings behind me once more and settled into the chair. After half an hour or so, Donnie came out of the kitchen and sat opposite me on the couch. Apparently he had come in after I had left.

"May I see them?" he asked, motioning toward my wings. I complied, shifting in my seat so my back was facing him. He stood and walked over to me, eager to examine my new appendages. He handled them gingerly, muttering to himself as he looked. After a minute, I heard a pencil scratching on paper as Donnie took notes. I smiled, settling myself more comfortably into the chair. If I trusted these turtles more than I had ever trusted anybody in my old life, which was kind of scary, but I was content to trust my instincts. I don't know how long I sat in the chair, but by the time Donnie was happy with his notes he had filled a small notebook with comments, measurements, and sketches of my wings.

"Incredible!" he sighed. "Biologically impossible by human standards, but your body showed amazing resilience and adaptation during the mutation process. I wonder if it had anything to do with your incredible metabolism? The odds of the results being replicated in another foreign organism, even in a single microbe, is astronomically improbable…"

"English, Donnie!" Came Mikey's voice from the kitchen. I giggled.

"He's just saying that I'm really special." I hollered back.

"Okay. I'm just glad he's not saying anything bad about me." Mikey said. Donnie rolled his eyes and straightened up, closing his journal and offering me his hand.

"Have you eaten?" he asked, eyeing my ribs that were painfully visible even beneath my shirt.

"Yes, actually. Your brother is an amazing cook! I can't remember the last time I had something to eat for breakfast that wasn't injected into me through a tube. It's good to be able to taste things again."

"I'm glad. I'm going to go put my stuff in the lab. Feel free to wander about the lair. Just don't go into Sensei's room at the end of the hall. We haven't exactly told him about you yet…"

"Okay. I'll keep a lookout for him." I assured him. Donnie nodded slightly and left. The tile felt cold beneath my bare feet, but I pressed on. The ceiling was high, extending at least ten feet above the second story and creating a massive dome at the top. A ledge jutted out from the bottom of the dome, six or so feet above the second story, and went around the length of the dome. It would be a nice hiding spot, if I were able to get up there. My eyes wandered around as I walked, taking in every scratch in the floor, every mark on the brick walls, every speck of dust lazily floating around in the air. I climbed up the stairs to the second floor, and found the bedrooms belonging to, I assumed, the four turtles. I couldn't tell whose was whose, but I couldn't help but notice how much bigger their rooms were than mine. I felt incredibly small just standing in the doorway of the first bedroom. The door was at least three feet taller than me and was wider than my entire arm span. When I stretch out my wings, however, they easily cleared the edges of the doorway and went out for a good foot and a half farther on either side. I folded them back in and continued my exploring.

I did this for the remainder of the morning, taking in every detail. I listened and watched my rescuers as they went about their normal day. Around lunchtime April dropped in and said hello. She was greeted warmly by the four brothers and I tried my best to give her a smile, but even after last night, I didn't completely trust her. After lunch with April and the turtles, I excused myself to my room to 'take a nap', but really spent the rest of the afternoon reorganizing my room. I was stronger than I was before the mutation and could easily move most of the furniture in the bedroom. One wall was completely taken up by a massive closet. The other three were open, except for the one that held the door leading from my room to the hallway outside. I pushed and pulled, turned and twisted, rearranged and reorganized to my heart's delight until the room was basically perfect. I decided that as soon as I could, I would get some decorations for the walls, maybe some twinkle lights to hang across the ceiling, a new comforter for the bed. I could easily have fit my entire wardrobe into the closet and had room to spare, but… all my clothes were at home, my old home. The one I could never go back to.

I sank onto the bed, suddenly depressed. This whole 'can't go back to my old life' thing was really starting to bother me. Just then, there was a soft knock at my door. April poked her head in and smiled.

"Ready to go?" she asked. I looked at the strange woman curiously.

"Go where?"

"To the store, silly. I told you I was going to get you some new clothes, didn't I? Let's go topside and get you some clothes that actually fit."

"With these?" I asked, unfolding my wings. "I'm pretty not sure they're going to go unnoticed once we get up there. They're kind of noticeable."

"I know that. I brought a big coat you can wear into the store. It's snowing outside, so nobody will question it if you're bundled up. Once we're inside, you can camp out in the dressing rooms while I do all the shopping. If anybody asks, I'm your aunt. You're here over Christmas vacation while the rest of the family goes on a cruise. You stayed behind because you get violently seasick. Should the need arise, we are unable to contact your family in any way because they have no cell phone reception or internet connection in the middle of the Caribbean. Your backpack with all your id's and such got lost in the airport and is in the process of being found. You have no other connections in the city, or even the state, and are under my legal care for the entire holiday season. Got it?" April said all of this rather quickly and I struggled to catch it all.

"I think so. That's kind of brilliant, actually. Well done." April smiled and accepted my compliment. She then threw me something big and black and told me to come into the living room once I was ready to go. I nodded my thanks, watched her as she left, and unfolded the black thing (which turned out to be a trench coat). It was big on me, but it covered my wings completely and didn't drag on the ground too much, so I was happy. I rolled up the sleeves as best I could and tucked my wings against my body, being careful to make sure they were covered by the thick black fabric. Walking out into the living room, I realized that the whole lair was eerily quiet. I found April and asked her where everybody was.

"Training in the dojo." She answered. "Splinter won't give them a day off unless it's a very important holiday or somebody's birthday. They'll be raining for at least a couple more hours so they won't notice our absence. Let's go!"


	8. Chapter 8: The Whole Family

April led me out of the main lair and back into the sewers, leading me down winding paths until we came to a ladder going straight up.

"After you,' she said, motioning to the creaky tower of metal. I gulped, not trusting the metal ladder. Nevertheless, not wanting to make a fool of myself in front of April, I grabbed hold of the first rung and started up. I closed my eyes, putting hand over hand and foot aver foot, going up and up and up. Then, without any notice, my head hit something hard. I opened my eyes and looked up. I had reached the top. I heard April laugh at me from below. I blushed.

"I think I found the top." I called down to her.

"I think you found it, too. Push the manhole out of the way and climb onto the surface." She told me.

I did as she asked, letting a flood of weak light fall into the sewers. At first I was blinded by the light, but my eyes adjusted quickly. I pulled myself up and out, jumping to my feet. April was beside me a few seconds later, brushing dirt off her jeans.

"The mall is that way." She said, pointing down the street. "It's small, but it should have everything we need. Help me put this manhole cover back, will you?" April struggled to get the metal disk back into the hole. I bent down, grabbed it with both hands, and shoved. The cover flew down the deserted street and hurtled into a lamp post ricocheting into a lonely brick wall on the other side of the street. The streetlamp, severely dented at the bottom, groaned and toppled down, heading straight towards April. What happened next was instinct. I opened my wings and shot into the air, grabbing the lamppost in midair. The lamppost, surprisingly heavy, pulled me down. I flapped my wings to slow our descent. My feet touched the ground a few seconds later and I shoved the lamppost away from April and I. It skidded across the ground and rammed into a car parked on the curb, completely denting the engine. A fire started in the crushed engine, casting a soft glow over the scene.

I stood there, panting, my wings outstretched, a terrified April cowering behind me. I had never felt this… powerful before. The post weighed at least a few hundred pounds, but to me it weighed no more than a large stick. My feet, when I had landed on the ground, had dented the asphalt. I stepped out of the rubble and approached April slowly. She was shaking violently.

"What the heck was that?" she practically yelled at me. "You just…. It just… the car… my _coat_! What have you done to my _coat_?"

I craned my neck, looking behind me. The trench coat was totally shredded where my wings had burst through them. I mumbled an apology.

"Well, at least you saved some of the coat for me. Honestly… Okay, let's go." She said, and got up and left. She didn't even say thank you for saving her life. I frowned, walked over to the fallen manhole cover, and slid it into place. There wasn't much I could do for the poor lamppost, so I left it laying in the street next to the damaged car. I tucked my wings back into the coat and sprinted after April. I liked her less and less as time went on.

I entered the lair carrying what seemed like my own weight in clothing. Bags hung from each arm and I carried a pile of clothes almost bigger than I was. As soon as I got into my room, I dumped them on my bed and fell on the floor, exhausted.

"I'm never going shopping again." I vowed.

"We haven't even gotten to shoes yet!" April protested from outside. I groaned inwardly and hid my head under a shirt that had fallen off the bed. We had been out for six hours, going from one store to the next and trying on outfit after outfit after outfit. It was awful. April seemed to enjoy herself, though. Finally, after visiting three different malls and every thrift store in this side of town, she agreed to take me home. Of course, I had to threaten to fly home and let her carry the bags by herself before she complied…

"I don't care! I'm done shopping for the rest of my life, you hear?!" I yelled in her direction. I really did not like that woman. Leo popped his head into my room.

"That's a really long time." He commented.

"Ugh! Not you, too! What do you want?"

"Nothing. I was just checking in on you."

"Oh, okay. Well, unless you can get rid of _her_ ," I gestured towards April, who could be seen from the doorway, "I don't think you can help much. I'm done being her personal dress up doll!" I threw the shirt over my head once again in annoyance. Leo looked back at April, then entered my room and shut the door.

"It was that bad, huh?" he asked.

"Pretty much. I lost count of how many outfits she put me in after about thirty or so. She can be really pushy!" I explained. Leo laughed, then clutched his side in pain. Immediately, I threw the shirt on the bed and rushed over to him to make sure he was okay.

""I'm fine." He promised. "Those guards just have a really strong roundhouse kick, that's all. Speaking of which, I meant to ask you something. Do you want to join my brothers and me this evening in the dojo? You don't have to fight if you don't want to today, but we all agree it would be a good idea for you to learn how to defend yourself now that you're a mutant. Humans don't tend to be accepting to creatures out of their own genotype, if you know what I mean."

I shook my head. "Me? Learn to fight? You've got the wrong girl, Leo. I can't even punch correctly. I'm not athletic or flexible or anything like that. I really don't think that would be a good idea…"

Now it was Leo's turn to shake his head. "Don't worry, little sister. If Master Splinter can teach Mikey to stand still for a full minute, I'm sure he can teach you to punch. Besides, you're stronger than you think. I think you'll do brilliantly. Meet me in the dojo in fifteen minutes, okay?" he got up and opened the door.

"What did you call me?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"What?"

"You called me 'little sister'. Why…?"

"You're part of the family now." He said simply. I gave him a small smile, still taken aback at his words. He smiled back and left the room.

Fifteen minutes later, I had changed into some of the new clothes April had gotten me and was sitting in the dojo next to Leo. On the way there, I realized that I still didn't have a name. I decided my name was going to be Angel. One of the thugs who captured me all those months ago had called me 'Angel Wings', and I figured Angel was fitting, what with my new wings and all. As we sat, Leo explained who Master Splinter was. That still didn't prepare me for when he actually appeared.

He was small compared to the turtles, but still much bigger than me. He had serious eyes and a firm mouth…and a tail. He was a giant rat. I stared at him for a moment, totally caught off guard. He met my gaze steadily and I quickly dropped my gaze. He walked over to Leo and me, studying me carefully.

"Stand" he told me. I stood immediately. Now that the initial shock was over, I met his gaze bravely with my own. "Who are you?" he asked. I swallowed, hard. Trying to steady my voice I said:

"My name is Angel. I am sixteen. I was taken by bad men and turned into a mutant like you against my will. Before the change, I was the oldest of four and was in the tenth grade. Your sons found me and took me under their wing, no pun intended." Mikey, who was on the other side of the room, chuckled at this. I continued, "Without them, my life would be very different. I am in their debt. I hope you'll forgive my intrusion into your home, but I seek your guidance and training. I realize I am young and wild and a threat to everybody, including myself. I ask you to teach me to harness these new powers within me so I am not so dangerous to those around me." Splinter stared at me, considering his decision. I decided to tell him the real reason I was asking for his help. Speaking in a voice too low for Leo to hear but that Splinter's sensitive ears would pick up, I said,

"Master Splinter, you do not know me and I do not know you. Your sons barely know me and yet they protected me when I could not do so for myself. I will forever be in their debt. Truth be told, however, I am terrified… terrified of this new power that runs through my veins. I cannot control myself, not yet. I ask you to teach me how to master myself and master my new power so that I may no longer be a threat to those around me. I don't know who else to turn to…. As soon as I can fend for myself, I will leave you and your family in peace. I did not ask for this life, but it has chosen me and I ask that you get me started on the right path, nothing more."

I dropped my gaze, ashamed at myself for being so weak. I hated this, not knowing how strong I was, not knowing what I was capable of doing, not knowing my limits, not knowing how much of a threat I was to those I loved and to those around me. To my surprise, Splinter put his finger under my chin and lifted my head so he could look into my eyes.

"You are right, I do not know you. But my sons seem to think you are a friend and I trust their judgment. You have shown that you have honorable reasons for wanting to be trained. I will train you. Know that you are welcome in our home as long as you may need it. We are all family here."

I could feel tears in the back of my eyes so I quickly ducked my head in a small bow, not wanting to cry in front of everyone. "Thank you," I whispered. Splinter smiled and motioned for me to join Leo on the floor. I sat down next to the massive turtle, how punched me gently in the arm.

"Welcome to the family, little sister. Now the real fun can begin!"

We spent the entire evening training. I sat out for the first hour or so, watching the others train, but soon I was itching to get onto the training floor myself. Splinter let me train with Leo at first, who showed me a few simple moves. I practiced those well into the night until I felt confident I had mastered them. I felt great that night, but in the morning I was so sore I could barely move. Even my wings were sore, even though I had only used them to keep myself balanced as I moved around the dojo. I decided to keep them tightly tucked against my body today while I trained.

I hobbled over to the kitchen, where a bowl of hot something-or-other was waiting for me. Where was everybody else? I ate quickly and ran to the dojo. Sure enough, everybody was already there. April was even there, much to my dismay. I stormed up to Leo, who was meditating in the far corner, and punched him in the arm as hard as I could. He didn't even flinch.

"Good morning." He greeted me, without opening his eyes. I frowned.

"Why didn't anybody wake me up?" I demanded. "How long have you guys been awake?"

"A few hours." He said, deflecting my next punch easily with his eyes still closed. "You were sleeping like a dead man in there and none of us had the heart to wake you up so early after how hard you worked yesterday. Besides, sensei told us not to."

I grumbled. "Fine. I'm getting up with you tomorrow, though, whether you like it or not." Leo laughed. "If you say so. Now, let's work on that thing you call a punch, shall we." He opened one eye and peeked at me playfully.


	9. Chapter 9: Nightmares

The days soon turned into weeks, the weeks into months. Before I knew it, Christmas time had rolled around. A light snow had covered the city and the temperature in the sewers dropped steadily as the days passed. Even with extra blankets and an old heater, it was cold in my room. I didn't mind, though. An effect of the mutation, as Donnie discovered with glee, was having a regular body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

On one particularly cold night, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to go find Leo, who was usually still up at this hour. I slipped on my socks and walked out into the main lair. Leo's room was upstairs, so I walked up the massive staircase into his room. He was asleep, which was unusual. What was even more unusual was that he was shivering and muttering in his sleep. He was having a nightmare.

"Leo?" I asked warily. "Leo, are you okay?"

He muttered in his sleep, breathing fast. "…not again…don't hurt them… don't…"

"Leo?" I approached his bed and set a small hand on his arm. He was covered in cold sweat. "Leo! Wake up!" I shouted at him, suddenly worried. He tossed his head back and forth on his pillow and jerked in bed. Whatever it was, it was a really bad dream. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright in bed and shouted, "DON'T HURT THEM!" He was panting and his eyes were wild. I stared at him, not sure what to do. After a moment, he came to his senses and looked around. Finally, his gaze locked onto mine. I saw fear, an inexpiable fear, in his big blue eyes. I lifted my hand to his face and studied him worriedly.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He laughed humorlessly and leaned his head into my hand.

"Nothing, little sister. Just a bad dream."

"Want to talk about it?" I asked.

"It won't help. Besides, I wouldn't want to scare you." He said sadly, laying back down onto his pillow. I'd rarely seen Leo like this, so unguarded.

"Fine then, " I teased him gently , 'keep your secrets. Seriously though, I'm willing to listen if you want to tell me about it."

"Thanks. I'm good, though. What are you doing up so late, anyway? Isn't it past your bedtime?" he was already yawning again and his eyes were drooping.

"Go to sleep, Leo. I'll go to bed in a little while." I patted his head gently and watched him drop off to sleep. I walked back into the lair and curled up on the couch in the living room with a mug of hot chocolate from the kitchen. I don't know how long I sat there, thinking in the dark. I soon finished my hot chocolate and was left with nothing but an empty mug in my hand. Setting it on the ground, I eventually pulled a blanket around myself and drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Breaking the Ice

The next morning we trained. Hard. Master Splinter had wanted to work on my flying, but I hadn't actually flown since my episode with April and the lamp post. I was reluctant to try again anytime soon. Today, Master Splinter insisted we start. I was able to convince him to wait until this afternoon but the afternoon came way too fast and before I knew it I was preparing to fly in the dojo.

"Remember, balance while you are in the air. Focus on your body and the air around you. You cannot afford any distractions. " he said firmly.

"Hai, sensei. If you don't mind my asking, do you have much experience with flying?"

"No, Angel, I do not. Now, fly!"

I took off, flapping my wings as hard as I could. I rocketed into the air, barely missing the ceiling. I tried to fly around the dojo, but my wings bumped into the walls and before long I lost control and crashed to the ground. I growled in frustration.

"Hmm…" said Splinter thoughtfully. "Perhaps we need a bigger space to practice in."

"Where would we go, though?" I asked, standing up and brushing myself off.

"April has a house out in the country that we could spend the winter in. It's about time we take a vacation, anyway. There is only so much that can be taught in a dojo. There are many lessons to be taught out in the open air." He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Won't people see us?"

"That is highly unlikely. Nobody lives within a fifteen-mile radius of the house and the area is usually deserted. We shall leave in the morning. Will you tell the others? I need to meditate for a while…" He turned and left the dojo without saying another word. I shook my head and rubbed my wings, a nervous habit I had formed. I still didn't understand Splinter and his sudden entrances and exits caught me off guard.

I left the dojo, following Splinter's path out into the kitchen. The rat, however, was nowhere to be seen. Oh, yeah. Ninjas. I walked into the kitchen and found Raph, as usual. He lifted his head when I entered, but said nothing.

"Splinter said that we're going to April's house out in the country for a while. He wanted me to let you know…" I shifted nervously under his gaze.

"Thanks, kid. Have you told the others yet?" he asked.

"Not yet. I was just on my way to find them."

"Don't bother. Dinner's ready, so they'll be here in a few minutes." He opened the cabinet and handed me some plates. I began setting the table.

"So, Angel, " Raph said casually, "Why are you so… tense?"

"I'm not tense." I said, too quickly. Distracted, I tripped over the rug under the table and dropped the last few plates. Raph dove over the counter, somersaulted across the tile, and caught each of the plates before they even hit the ground. He looked up at me, his eyes laughing.

"Yes, you are," he said matter-of-factly, 'And I want to know why."

"It's just…" I began, sitting down on one of the chairs by the table, "The first time I saw you, you were so…"

"Stunningly handsome?" he offered, setting the plates on the table and pulling up a chair next to me. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Well, those weren't quite the words I was looking for." I admitted, allowing a smile to creep across my face.

"Oh?" he gave me a disbelieving glance. "How about "so good-looking that I couldn't stand it and I have to hide behind Leo because I am afraid my heart would give me away if I looked you straight in the eyes?" He said the last part in a very high squeaky voice, obviously trying to sound like me. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I do not sound like that!" I protested in between fits of laughter.

"Sure you do. Admit it: I make a pretty good girl-impression"

He then proceeded to waltz around the kitchen and say ridiculous things in his squeaky voice, making me laugh even harder. He seemed pleased at this, and for the first time I got to see him actually smile at me. I guess he got to see me smile at him for the first time, too. After several minutes of making me laugh, he came and joined me at the table again.

"I like this Angel better." He said simply. I looked at him quizzically. "This Angel is more open," he explained, "she doesn't hide whenever I walk by or shy away from me in the hallway or refuse to look me in the eye at mealtimes. This Angel actually laughs and smiles and acts natural."

"I'm sorry, Raph. I didn't mean to do all that. You're just so… intimidating." I lowered my eyes slowly, remembering how scared I felt when I first saw him.

"I only try to intimidate those who wish to do those I love harm. I wasn't trying to scare you."

I looked back up at him. "How about a deal? I will try to not duck for cover whenever you lumber into the hallway and you will try to not be so intimidating. How does that sound?"

"Fine by me. As long as you smile around me more often." We shook hands. Then, after a moment of thought, he asked, "Did you just say that I lumber through the hall?" I giggled.

"You kind of do." I admitted. He was about to say something back when Mikey waltzed in, obviously following the trail of delicious smells emanating from the kitchen. Raph quickly got rid of what was left of his smile and put on his usual scowl. He got up from the table and walked over to the stove, but not before he gave me a quick wink. I nodded imperceptibly, showing that I understood his need to keep up appearances with his brothers. He showed a very tough love for his brothers, rarely showing his softer side when they were around.

The other two came in soon after Mikey and dinner was soon underway. Splinter never showed up, and nobody bothered to go look for him. Dinner was fantastic, a mixture of chicken, vegetables, noodles, a thick sauce, and a variety of spices I couldn't name. Raph really was a master in the kitchen. Everybody talked and laughed while we ate. Leo must have noticed that I was actually talking to Raph because he threw me a few suspicious looks over the course of the meal. I said nothing, ignoring his unasked question. After dinner, Mikey and Donnie helped clean up while Leo, Raph , and I talked.

"So, Splinter wants us to go up to the old farmhouse?" Raph asked me. I nodded.

"He said we're leaving in the morning. Where even is it?"

"Out in the country a ways. It's about seven hours away, as the van drives." Leo said. "Why does he think we need a vacation?"

"I think he wanted me to have more room to learn how to fly. I tried to fly in the dojo, but I kept on running into the walls and bumping into things." I said, rubbing my wings absently.

"Well, you'll have plenty of room out there, sure enough." Mikey said. "There's nobody there. It's going to get cold, though. Really cold. Winters out there are not nice."

"I'm going to have to move all my computer equipment into the van." Donnie grumbled, obviously not too fond of the thought. I smiled, imagining Donnie trying to fit all his equipment into a suitcase. This was going to be a fun trip.


	11. Chapter 11: Vacation

"Are we there yet?" Mikey asked, for the 43rd time. Leo, who was driving, gripped the steering wheel tighter, the muscles flexing in his forearms.

"Mikey, if we were there we wouldn't still be driving, would we?" Leo said through gritted teeth. Mikey groaned and threw himself against the back of his chair, folding his arms across his chest impatiently. I grinned.

"Donnie," I said, trying to get rid of what I knew would soon be a tense moment, "Tell me more about the farmhouse. None of you have been very specific and it's driving me crazy!" Donnie jumped at the chance, eager to avoid all awkward situations, especially when all five of us were jammed into the same van. April and Splinter had insisted on driving on ahead to get the house ready for us.

"Well," Donnie began, "It's not a new house, but it works just fine. There's the main house, then the courtyard, and in the back is the barn. After the barn is the forest that surrounds the place. The forest used to be well-kept by April's family, but once they moved away the forest was allowed to grow naturally and became unkempt. It's a little creepy at night, but we love to explore the nearer regions during the day."

"Hey, guys. Guess what?" Leo called from the front. "We're here."

I unbuckled and scrambled over Raph to look out his window. The countryside flew past too quickly for a normal person to see clearly, but I caught every detail. Bare branches were covered in the first hints of what promised to be a very white winter. Frost was painted on each branch, their black fingers reaching up to tickle the bellies of low-flying clouds. We were on a dirt road that used to me well-used, but had been claimed by nature as time went on. The sky was overcast and heavy with clouds. It would storm later today. Despite this, a watery sunshine fought its way through the clouds and lit the earth beneath with a soft glow. The whole scene was beautiful.

"Can….you…PLEASE…get… your…wings…out…of …my…face?!" Raph growled. I looked back at him and giggled at the sight of him trying to move my wings, which were indeed pressed up against his face. I smirked and fluffed out my feathers a bit so they tickled him. He gagged and shoved me away, spitting some black down-feathers out of his mouth.

"Eww! I didn't know you shedded. That's disgusting!" Raph complained, still spitting out feathers. I blushed, not knowing how to react. I had never lost any feathers before…

"She's not shedding, shell-head." Donnie said, coming to my aid. "She's molting. All birds do it. Think of it like…growing your own winter coat. Bigger, thicker, heavier feathers will replace the ones she will lose in the next few weeks to keep her warm"

"It's still gross." Raph grumbled after getting the last few feathers of his mouth. I threw him an apologetic smile, but he just rolled his eyes and turned to look out the window.

Twenty-seven minutes later, Leo pulled into the huge dirt driveway that surrounded the age-old house before us. The house, three stories tall and bursting with Victorian beauty, loomed before us. Mikey threw open the double-doors to the back of the van and practically threw himself onto the ground, overjoyed that the seven-and-a-half hour car ride was finally over. Raph jumped out after him, wrestling him to the ground. The two began horsing around, throwing dirt into the air. Donnie rolled his eyes, got out, and helped me down. Leo, who had driven the whole way here, could be seen stretching as he got out. He looked tired, but then again he usually did these days. His nightmares had been keeping him up most nights, though he refused to admit it. I could hear him scream in the middle of the night from my bedroom.

"Are Splinter and April here yet?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I don't think so. We would have seen April's car."

"Oh. Okay. I'm going to look around inside, if that's okay."

"Sure. Take whatever bedroom you want. With this family it's first come, first serve."

I laughed, appreciating the truth of his words. After making my way inside, I explored the entire house, floor by floor, room by room, closet by closet. The house was old and in need of a major fixer-upper job, but it was a sturdy house and would keep us warm in the winter. I eventually chose a bedroom in the back that had a wall made entirely of windows and overlooked the forest beyond. The windows opened up to a small balcony with a metal tea table and a single chair. Inside, the remaining three walls were painted mint green with cream highlights. The bed was big and plushy, though the comforter was in desperate need of a good wash. Oak wood panels spanned the entire floor. Across from the big white bed was an old Victorian-style vanity table with a huge mirror. The cream-colored paint on the wood was peeling and the mirror needed to be polished, but even in its diminished state the table was beautiful. I tried to open the closet, but the sliding doors got stuck and I accidentally pulled the entire door out of its frame. The smell of mothballs and old clothes billowed out of the closet, making my eyes water. I quickly shoved the closet door back into place and tried to keep my eyes from watering.

Just then, Raph poked his head into the room and saw me drying my eyes. He smirked.

"Aww, is little Angel crying? What's the matter, little bird?" he cooed mockingly. I punched him in the arm, earning a satisfying grunt of pain. "Ow! Has Leo been working with you on your punch lately? Yeesh…"

"Yes he has, actually. Do you like it?" I punched him again, harder. A laugh rumbled in his chest and he raised an eyebrow playfully. I giggled and went in for another punch, but he caught it easily in his fist. In one swift movement, he twisted my arm up and around, so I spun in a circle. Caught off-guard I tripped over my own feet and began to fall towards him. With his other hand he grabbed my waist and threw me over his shoulder. I squealed and tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he had pinned my legs against his chest and was running down the stairs. I laughed, feeling his powerful shoulder muscles move beneath my abdomen. Once we got downstairs, he began walking nonchalantly around the house, taking no heed of my protests.

"Put me down, dork! I- Ow! Put me down!" I squealed. He chuckled and continued to ignore me. Leo found us in the front room, took one look at the situation, and left.

"Leo! Leo, help!" I called after him, laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

"Sorry, Angel," he said over his shoulder, "You're on your own."

Raph laughed and threw me onto the couch, finally releasing me. I quickly wriggled off the cushions and ran outside before he could grab me again. He gave chase, laughing. He chased me around the front yard and into the woods closest to the house. He was fast, but I was faster. I pushed myself harder and harder, willing myself to go faster than ever before. It worked. I pulled ahead, soon losing any sight or sound of Raph. Ducking behind a tree, I leaned against the massive trunk and caught my breath.

Minutes passed, and still no sign of Raphael. I began to get a little nervous, realizing that if he hadn't found me by now something was wrong. I risked a peek around the tree and sure enough, nobody was there. I stepped out from behind the tree and did a 360, but still found no sign of my adopted older brother. I tried retracing my steps, but quickly lost my way. By that point, my heart was beating rather quickly and I was definitely freaking out. There was no way I could find my way back home on my own, but I couldn't stay here all night either. I sat on the ground in a huff and considered my options.

I could, in theory, wait here for one of my brothers to find me, but I really didn't want to do that.

I could try once again to retrace my steps back to the house, but one of the cons of weighing less than a sack of flour is that your footsteps don't make much of an imprint on the ground. My footsteps were practically impossible to trace.

Or I could fly above the canopy and get a birds-eye view, literally. I had never really flown before, though. At least, not on purpose. I had no idea what I was doing. But what option did I have?

Accepting my fate, I stood and looked for a break in the roof of leaves above me. I would have to learn to fly eventually, so why not now? I found a nice spot a few yards away and made my way towards it. I could see the grey sky above me, see the clouds rolling against the sky. My wings, as if sensing that they were finally about to be put to use, quivered in anticipation. What did I do now? I raised the up as high as they could go and flapped them down as hard as I could. I flew backwards into a tree, hitting my head against an unforgiving branch. I slumped to the ground and shook my head, trying to clear it.

 _'_ _Okay. That didn't work. What if I jumped from a branch and went from there?'_ I thought. I stood and started climbing the tree I had rammed into. Once I had climbed as high as the thin branches would allow, I threw myself into the air and hoped instinct would take over.

It did.


	12. Chapter 12: Flying Lesson

My wings snapped out and I felt myself glide upward into the cool air. I didn't have to think about what to do; my wings just…did it. I soared through the air, feeling the cold air bite the bare skin on my arms and face. I pushed upward into the clouds, exhilarated by this new freedom. Faster and faster I soared, going higher and higher with each flap of my powerful wings. Moments later I had burst above the top of the clouds and I was surrounded by a whole new world.

As far as the eye could see was a layer of fluffy clouds. Gone was the world of grey below. Here was a land of brilliant blue and yellow and white. The sun shone above me and as reflected on the pure white clouds below. I hovered just above the tops of the clouds and let my feet fall against the misty wall. My shoes disappeared into the blanket of white and I laughed. I pushed upward again and then let my wings go slack. I arced upward, then fell down, tumbling through the air. I disappeared into the clouds and for a few precious moments, I was blanketed in the white as I fell. Then I broke through the bottom into the world of grey again, taking a few of the clouds with me. I used my wings to turn in midair and make it so I was falling with my head pointed toward the fast-approaching ground. At the last possible second I unfurled my wings and shot upward, making an impossible tight turn before I hit the ground. I laughed again gleefully, my laughter ringing through the air. I heard a yell from below me and looked down. Sure enough, right below me was Raph, waving his arms in the air in an attempt to get my attention. I flew down to him in a large spiral, circling him. Landing ungracefully, I ended up hitting the ground too quickly and falling forward. My ninja training kicked in and I turned my fall into a summersault. Summersaults are not easy with massive wings sprouting out of your back, however, and I twisted my right wing in the process. Raph sprinted over to me where I lay sprawled on the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked frantically, kneeling down beside me. I was too excited over the fact that I had actually flown to notice the waves of pain emanating from my wing. I stared up at the grey sky in wonder.

"I flew! I actually flew!" I exclaimed, trying to sit up. I winced when my wing protested but kept on talking, allowing Raph to help me into a sitting position. "I was up there above the clouds and in the sky and I was flying! It was the most wonderful experience I've ever had. I was up there all by myself and I was free! Utterly and completely free!"

"I know. I saw you up there, Angel, and I'm really glad for you but we need to get you back to Donnie pronto. Once all your adrenaline wears off from the flight you're really going to feel that," Raph said, motioning toward my wing, which was laying on the ground at an awkward angle.

I nodded, still stuck in my own little world, and let him pick me up in his arms. He ran back, sandwitching my twisted wing between myself and his chest. We made it back to the house in no time. Apparently I hadn't run as far as I had thought. My wing was really beginning to ache now and It was all I could to to not cry out in pain when Raph dumped me on the ground to go find Donnie. After a few minutes Don hurried out of the house with a first-aid kit and some bandages. He took one look at my wing and frowned.

"You dislocated it. How did you dislocate it? On second thought, don't answer that. I'm going to have to move it back into place. This is going to hurt," he warned, kneeling down beside me. I rolled my eyes.

"It hurts already."

"Then don't say I didn't warn you." Donnie said. Before I could question what he meant, he grabbed my wing and expertly twisted it back into place in one swift movement. Caught off guard, I screamed at the sudden wave of pain and yanked my wing away from him. After a moment, the pain ebbed to a dull ache. Donnie laughed.

"I told you it was going to hurt." He said simply, standing back up. I glared at him.

"You could have at least warned me of what you were going to do." I complained.

"Would it have helped?" he asked. I frowned.

"No, probably not."

"Then don't be so mad. Your wing will be fine in a few days. Just don't strain it too much, you hear?"

I stood and gave him a sarcastic salute. "Yessir!" He rolled his eyes at me.

We went back inside and I sat on the couch while he went to put his medical kit away. I moved my wing tenderly, still wincing at the pain, and made a mental not to not do any more summersaults. Raph entered the room silently and sat down beside me, not saying a word.

"I'm sorry for taking off like that." I apologized. He shrugged.

"Not a big deal. You're really fast, you know that?" Now it was my turn to shrug.

"It helps that I don't have a massive shell to weigh me down." I gave him a side-long glance and was pleased to see him smiling.

"Yeah," he agreed, "But I don't have oversized wings sprouting out of my back."

"Touché" I said

"Speaking of which, how was your first time flying? You looked pretty amazing up there."

I smiled. "Oh, Raph, It was amazing!" I told him the whole story, skipping the part where I ran into the tree. He listened intently. When I finished he shook his head in disbelief.

"Donnie's gonna flip when he sees you." He said, tightening his mask. My heart sank.

"He wants to watch me fly?" I asked.

"We all do. And I'm sure Splinter will want to once he and April get here."

"Oh, great. Now I have an audience. Raph, I don't think I can do it. I would get too nervous. Besides, I don't really know how I do it. I just…do."

"Well," he said, standing, "You've got all night to figure that part out. Want to come help me in the kitchen? We need to get dinner started."

"Sure." I said standing. Something tickled the back of my calf and I looked behind me. A small pile of black feathers lay on the couch where my wings had been a moment before. Oh, right. Molting.

"On second thought, why don't you stay out of the kitchen. I would rather not have feathers in my casserole." Raph said warily, shoving me back down onto the couch. I threw a pillow at him as he left the room, but it just bounced off his shell and dropped onto the floor. I got up and picked up the fallen pillow, tossing it back onto the couch. I grabbed a plastic bag from the pantry and carefully plucked each of my old feathers off the couch. At this rate, I would be feather-less by the end of the week!

That evening, after a small dinner of green-bean casserole and rolls, I locked myself in my room and curled up on the bed with my favorite book. I had found a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ , in one of the many bookshelves downstairs and was already halfway through it. It had been a favorite since seventh-grade and I hadn't read it in a while, so I figured I might as well read it now while I had the chance. I read well into the night, long after the moon rose above the top of the trees. I was on the last chapter when I heard Leo shouting in the room next door. He was having one of his nightmares again.

I tossed my book aside and ran out into the hallway, stopping at his door. I knocked frantically, but he didn't answer. He shouted unintelligibly, either not hearing me call his name or ignoring me. Finally, I forced his door open and entered his room. He was thrashing around on his bead, the covers long forgotten, and covered in a layer of cold sweat. I rushed over to him and held him down as best I could.

"Leo! Leo, it's me! Wake up! It's only a dream, Leo!" I cried, dodging an unintentional punch thrown my way. Realizing he wasn't about to wake up, I slapped him across the face as hard as I could. He started and sat bolt upright in bed, throwing me to the floor. He looked around the room frantically, as if looking for an attacker. Eventually his eyes found mine and he relaxed a bit. He slumped back onto his pillow, yanked a blanket off the floor, and covered his head in it.

"Leo?" I asked hesitantly. "Leo, what's worng?"

"Nothing" he groaned. "Thanks for checking up on me. You can go now. I don't need any help." I rolled my eyes and walked over to him, sitting on the bed next to him.

"I don't believe you." I said. He looked at me sharply, but I continued. "You've been having these nightmares for months and it's driving me crazy to see you in so much pain. Please let me help you, Leo. Actually, that's not a request. I am helping you whether you like it or not, so get used to it." He smiled at my stubbornness.

"You never were one to give up easily. Okay, I'll let you help me. I just don't know what you can do"

"I do."

We talked all night and into the wee hours of the morning. Leo told me all about his dreams and what caused him to react to violently. I listened and added a comment here and there, a plan forming in my mind. When he was finished I told him what I planned to do.

"Are you sure?" he asked. I nodded.

"It's not like I'll be staying up any later than normal, anyway. I'll stay here as long as you need me." I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a soft smile. He smiled back and put his massive hand over my small one.

"Thank you." He said simply.

"I'll do anything for my family." I told him. Then I got up and walked over to his door leading to the hall. "You'd better get some sleep, Leo. I'll tell the others you aren't feeling well." He nodded his thanks and fell asleep almost instantly, his head sinking deep into the pillow.


	13. Chapter 13: Danger Strikes

At breakfast I told the others that Leo had gotten violently sick that night and wouldn't be joining us for training at all this morning. Nobody seemed to question it, though Raph threw me a quizzical look. I ignored him and ate my oatmeal intently. After breakfast the four of us went into the barn to train. Splinter and April were still not here, but none of the others seemed worried so I didn't worry about it. We trained hard, but I took special care to keep them from hitting my healing wing. By mid-afternoon we were all sore and bone-tired and we decided to take a break and go exploring in the woods. A light snow had begun falling and the ground outside was covered in a white powder. Mikey tried to make a snowball, but only succeeded in making a clump of powdery-white dirt. He threw it at me anyway and I ducked. It hit Donnie, who was a few feet behind me. Mikey laughed uncomfortably and backed away, whistling like nothing had happened. Donnie's brow furrowed and he took after him. Mikey shrieked and ran as fast as he could toward the house. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Lemmie go! Lemmie go! Stop! It wasn't me!" Mikey squealed.

"That was totally you, shell-brain. Get back here!" Donnie roared.

I rolled my eyes and walked onto the front porch of the house. I was soon joined by a sleepy Leo, who had apparently just woken up. He gave me a smile that turned into a yawn and stretched.

"What are they up to?" Leo asked, motioning to the chase between his two younger brothers.

"Mikey threw a snowball at me. I ducked, and it hit Donnie instead." I explained. Leo nodded knowingly.

"Sounds like them. Anything exciting happen while I was asleep?" he asked.

"Not really. It's been kinda boring, actually. We've trained all morning and are still waiting for Splinter and April to show up. Do you have any idea where they could be?"

"Oh, they're on their way," he said, not giving it much thought. They probably got distracted or something."

"Leo, they're over a day late. Aren't you the least bit worried for them?"

"April won't come to any harm while she's with Splinter and I would like to see something try to take him out. That's not likely to happen. Just calm down, Angel. It's not a big deal." He put a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. I sighed and shook my head.

"If you say so." I complied. He seemed happy enough and left to go train with his brothers. I left the four turtles behind and went inside the house. Since April and Splinter weren't here yet the house was still a dusty mess. I decided to tackle the living room first, since Raph had gotten the kitchen spick and span before we went to bed the night before. I found the hallway closet and pulled out an ancient-looking vacuum and a feather-duster. I spotted a broom at the last minute and grabbed that as well. The living room had oak-paneled floors with a massive carpet covering most of it. There was a huge window on the far wall with drooping red shades that looked like they could fall apart any minute. The worn grandfather clock, which had long stopped ticking, was standing like a sentry over the whole room. The fireplace looked more like a hole in the wall than anything and was filled with cobwebs instead of logs. Overall, it was a pretty sorry sight.

I decided to tackle the dusty ceiling fan and the window first so the dust and dirt would fall onto the already filthy floor, which would be cleaned later. I tried dusting the fan with the feather duster, but most of the old fake feathers promptly fell off onto the carpet below. Instead of giving up I decided to try something new. Fluffing my own feathers out, a number of old feathers floated to the ground among the fake feather-duster ones. _Thank you, molting season._ I thought, picking a few of my own feathers up and fitting them into the frame of the feather-duster. It worked just fine, much to my relief. After the ceiling fan and all the paintings were dusted off, I pulled down the sagging red drapes from the window. They sent up a cloud of dust and dirt that made me cough and the room was suddenly filled with light. The drapes crumbled and tore when I tried to pick them up again, so I yanked open the window and threw them out onto the grass outside. I would have Donnie take them out to the trash later. Turning back to the now-sunlit room, I set to work.

Two hours later, I had patched up a few holes in the wallpaper, put new light-bulbs in the lamps, cleared out the fireplace and scrubbed it clean, beaten the dust out of the couch-cushions, gotten new curtains hung up around the sparkling-clean window that now slid around easily in its frame, and beaten most of the dirt out of the oriental rug. I finished sweeping and scrubbing the oak floors while the rug hung over a branch on one if the huge trees out front. Finally satisfied with my work, I retired the broom and mop and set outside to get the rug.

But it was gone.

I looked frantically around the yard, looking for any sign for the old rug. No luck whatsoever.

"Leo!" I shouted. "Leo, where are you? Come quick!" A crashing sound came from the barn across the yard and next thing I knew I saw Leo sprinting across the ground, feet flying, katana drawn.

"What's the matter?' He asked frantically when he reached the house, alert for any kind of danger. I rolled my eyes.

"Where's the rug?" I demanded. Leo stopped short, confused..

"What?" he asked.

"Where is the large oriental rug I put out here a few minutes ago? It's supposed to be hanging on the tree over there and it's not. So where is it?"

A look of realization came over his face as the situation dawned on him. "Oh, that rug?" he asked, sheathing his katanas. "We've got it in the barn. We've been using it for target practice…"

"You WHAT?!" I screamed, throwing my hands up into the air. There was no way I was going to let that rug get damaged, not after I had spent half an hour cleaning it by hand. I vaulted over the railing, dashed across the yard to the barn, and threw open the large double-doors, fuming. There was the rug, hanging from the ceiling, being beaten to a pulp by Rapheal and Michaelangelo. They punched, hit, kicked, and side-swiped the hanging target, sending a billowing cloud of dust into the air with each impact. I shrieked.

"What…are…you...DOING?" I yelled at them, storming over. Mikey caught one look at me, froze in mid kick, and stared. Raph, on the other hand, continued beating my poor rug over and over. I grabbed his shoulder and spun him so he faced me.

"You have three seconds to explain this," I growled, "before I tie you up next to my poor rug and use you as a punching bag!" To my frustration, he chuckled at me.

"We're getting the dust out." He explained, obviously enjoying this moment. "You had gotten some of it out earlier, and we decided to finish the job for you. We weren't hurting it. Besides, I needed to work on my left hook a bit."

I could feel the anger drain from my face as I took in his explanation. "So, my rug is alright?" I asked warily. Raph responded in the affirmative. I sighed, letting out a huge breath. "Oh, good. Next time you want to beat the furniture to a pulp, can you at least tell me first?"

"Sure, little bird." He said, smiling. I rolled my eyes.

"Now help me get it back inside," I ordered. Mikey, who had been watching our debate silently, jumped at the opportunity to help and started yanking on the carpet. I clenched my jaw, and he stopped.

"I'll get onto the rafters and get it from there." He said meekly, motioning toward the wooden beams above us. I nodded my approval, fluffing out my wings absentmindedly. Mikey clambered up the barn wall and balanced precariously on the wooden beam spanning the huge room we were in. He walked across the beam with the grace of a cat, easily unhooking the rug. He dropped it down to Raph, who carried it into the house. I followed, making sure he set it up correctly in the living room. After he was done, we began to move the furniture back into place. I had moved it all into the hallway while I was cleaning.

"Wow, you really cleaned this place up." Raph commented.

"Thanks," I said, allowing a small glow of pride to light up my cheeks. "I had already cleaned up my room, so I figured I might as well start in here." Raph opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a shout from Leo outside.

"GUYS! GET OUT HERE! NOW!" he sounded frantic.

Raph and I sprinted outside to see what was going on, then stopped cold when we saw what was unfolding before us. Mikey was knelt over a form on the ground, shaking it gently. Leo was carrying something in his arms, running to the house. Donnie, wielding the garden hose as a fire hose, was trying in vain to extinguish the smoking green car that had apparently just pulled up. Raph gasped as he realized what had happened.

"It's Splinter and April!"


	14. Chapter 14: Doctor, doctor

The house was frantic. With the unexpected and slightly horrifying arrival of Splinter and April came a flurry of action and not a few worried looks. The guys kept surprisingly calm, all things considered. Leo had an unconscious April in his arms as headed for the house and left Mikey to take care of Splinter. Donnie had run off to get a fire extinguisher for the smoking car, leaving me nothing to do. I followed Leo, lost for words.

"Get me bandages and antiseptic for April," he ordered once we reached the house. The tone of his voice left no room for disagreement. I nodded and ran into the kitchen and grabbed the medical kit, bringing it back to Leo. That's when I got a good look at the injured April for the first time. She was battered almost beyond recognition. Her head was bleeding on one side and dark bruises covered her face, neck, and torso. Leo had taken off her yellow jacket so he could address the injuries on her arms and shoulders.

"What happened?" I asked, stunned.

"I don't know. The car barely made it into the yard before it started smoking. April and Splinter were both unconscious inside, I don't know why. Mikey and I saw the car and rushed over to say hello before we realized they were in trouble. We pulled them out as fast as we could. The car looks ready to burst any minute so Donnie is taking care of that. Mike's got Splinter, but I don't know how he's doing. Raph is doing an emergency patrol of the immediate area. Can you get me a warm washcloth for April. I need you to help me clean her up before I bandage her up. She's losing a lot of blood from that head wound." He said all of this rather quickly, but with a steady and controlled voice. I took one look at April's battered body and ran to get a washcloth. This was going to be a long night.

Later that evening, April lay still on the couch sleeping. Leo had gotten me to bandage her up while he helped Mikey take care of Splinter, who was also badly hurt. April had at least three broken ribs, a slight concussion, and enough cuts and bruises to keep her bedridden for a month. Donnie suspected she had shattered a few bones in her ankle as well, but he didn't want to agitate it while April was in such a delicate state. Splinter's condition wasn't much better, but the mutagen in his blood would help him heal quickly, Donnie said. He was currently taking up one of the bedrooms across the hall from mine. Don didn't feel like moving April would be a very good idea , so he left her on the couch. Any grudge I had held against the once talkative young lady disappeared as I watched over her. Leo and Raph refused to leave Splinter's side as he healed, Donnie had gotten the now-useless green car to stop smoking and had hauled it into the garage, and at the moment Mikey was moping around the house with nothing to do. He was worried sick about his father and his friend, but didn't know what to do. After making sure the sleeping April was stable, I walked over to him smiling tiredly.

"Can you watch over April for me while I shower?" I asked him. He looked up quickly, thankful for something to do.

"Of course. What do I do?" he asked.

"Not much. Just watch over her, change her bandages as needed, and make sure she's comfortable. If she wakes up, talk to her slowly and quietly and orient her on what happened. Don't question her or anything, just let her listen to a familiar voice for a while. Tell her a story or something. If she wants to talk, let her, but if she starts hurting make her stop talking and rest a while." I instructed him.

He nodded solemnly and walked over to the couch where she lay, keeling down on the ground beside her. He began stroking her hair gently and talking to her in lowered tones. I couldn't help but smile. April and Mikey had always had a unique relationship and this was living proof of how much he cared about her.

I walked down the hallway into the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, I prepared for a nice, long shower. As I washed the day away, I thought about what might have happened to Splinter and April. I had many ideas, none of them pleasant. Twenty minutes later I was dressed in pajamas and slippers and fuzzy socks. I grabbed my brush from the vanity desk in my room and began brushing my hair as I joined Mikey in the living room. He was still guarding April, watching over her and brushing her hair with his fingers.

"She hasn't moved," he said glumly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," I said. "She just needs time to heal. It'll take a while, Mikey." He still looked put out, so I tried another tactic. "Hey Mikey, will you help me brush my hair? It's being incredibly difficult tonight." Mikey nodded, moving behind me.

He grabbed me by shoulders and sat me down on a felt-covered ottoman by the fireplace. He took my brush from me and began working in through my messy hair. I lowered my wings so I could reach my head easily and closed my eyes with pleasure as he worked. He got all the tangles out quickly, but kept working the brush through my hair even though it was straight. I didn't stop him. I knew that he was working out all the stress he had been storing up all afternoon in his own special way. Donnie came into the room at some point with some fresh firewood and got a fire going in the fireplace. After that was all finished, he sunk into an armchair and promptly fell asleep. He had been running around the property all evening, getting medical supplies wherever he could find them, patching up April and Splinter, getting the house warm and free of drafts, and pretty much keeping himself insanely busy with things to get done before tomorrow. Mikey, considerably less stressed out, finally finished brushing my hair and returned my brush to me, moving back to his spot beside April.

I began preening my wings, running my fingers through the downy under-feathers and pulling free loose ones. I let them fall onto the ground, where I would gather them up later and toss them into the fire. Preening was a very methodical process and I soon grew sleepy, watching the fire as I worked. Half an hour later, I gathered the old feathers, tossed them into the fire, and ran my hand over my wings with satisfaction. Donnie had let me take the restraining bandage off my wrenched wing and I stretched it experimentally. It felt fine, so I decided to go on a flight in the morning.

It was quiet in the house. The only sounds were the muffled sizzling and crackling of the fire and the moaning of the wind outside as it rushed past the house. I walked over to the window and was surprised to see snow falling from the sky. No wonder Donnie had been working so frantically all afternoon. Some sixth sense told me we would be getting at least two or three feet of snow if the snowfall kept up this pace. The flakes were large and sticky, grabbing hold to every surface they could find. I shivered and walked back to the fire place, content for the moment to let the cold stay outside.


	15. Chapter 15: Cross my Heart

The next morning was a white one, even more so than I had imagined. Four and a half feet of snow covered the ground and powdered the trees and barn. It was early, and a watery sunlight filtered through the blanket of clouds draped across the dawn sky. I stretched, surprised to find myself curled up on the ottoman I had been sitting on last night. Apparently I had fallen asleep at some point and not bothered to move into bed before I did so. I sat up, rubbing my eyes and yawning. Donnie was in the same position in the armchair he had been in when he collapsed last night; I smiled. I grabbed a spare blanket from the closet and draped it over him. He shifted in the seat, then settled into a more comfortable position, mumbling in his sleep. Mikey, still near April, had fallen asleep with his head resting on the cushion near her head and the rest of him leaning against the couch, his legs sprawled out in front of him. Leo and Raph were sleeping on the floor in Splinter's room.

I was the only one awake.

Dressed in jeans and an old winter jacket April had gotten me from a thrift store a few months ago, I slipped out of the house quietly and stood on the front porch. It had been protected from most of the snow last night, so only a few inches of snow dusted the wooden planks. My wings, poking out from the slits I had cut in the back of the jacket, quivered in anticipation. I spread them out, stretching them as far as I could. Donnie said I had a wingspan of 14 feet, and I was proud of the fact.

I leapt out into the frigid air and spiraled upward, pumping my wings. The frigid air bit my nose and made my eyes water, but I didn't mind. I leveled out above the trees and glided, barely moving my wings. I traveled west for five or six miles, then turned slightly south. After about eight minutes of flying I had covered over ten miles. I dropped to the ground, landing clumsily on a snow-covered dirt road leading to the nearest village surrounding our hidden abode. I would jog the last mile and a half so nobody saw me fly. Pulling a light cloak out from under my jacket, I draped it over my wings and shoulders and lowered my wings so they pressed against my body and looked less conspicuous. I jogged into the village, amazed at the beauty of the snow-covered buildings. They were small and simple, but with that simplicity came an indescribable beauty.

I entered the nearest convenience store and walked around, gathering supplies we needed at the house. Usually April would have done all the shopping, but seeing as she was couch-ridden for the next few weeks I took the responsibility upon myself. I gathered the items and walked to the counter, ready to check out. But I couldn't make myself move past there.

I froze, suddenly filled with horrible memories. Memories of evil men and heartless nurses and pink water. The last time I had interacted with people, besides April, had been right after my mutation. My breath sped up and a cold sweat broke out across my forehead. I gripped the bag of supplies tightly and turned on my heel, making my way to the self-check-out section. I checked out quickly, using the money from Aprils wallet that I had 'borrowed' to pay for the food and supplies. I had almost made it to the door before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Miss?" A voice asked. I spun around, eyes frantic, ready for a fight. The hand on my shoulder was attached to a bored-looking teenage guy with red hair, freckles, and huge glasses. I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and relaxed. But only slightly.

"Did you want a receipt for that?" he asked, pointing to the bag in my hands.

"Did I want a… Oh! Um, no. Thanks, though. I'm good." I stammered.

I laughed nervously and backed away, running into the door in the process. The boy looked after me curiously, a question on his lips. I turned and ran, not caring what he thought. I ran until the village was safely behind me and took to the air, yanking the cloak from my back and stuffing it into the bag with the supplies. I flew just above the trees, keeping low and relatively hidden. The return trip took less time, but not by much. The whole thing had taken less than an hour, but that was an hour of being away from my family and them not knowing where I was.

As proven by the scowl carved on Leo's face when I got back.

He was on the front porch, arms crossed, frown in place, and a glare in his eyes. I landed on the front step of the porch, barely missing the wall of snow that had fallen on the ground during the night. I met his gaze warily.

"Where were you?" he asked, terrifyingly quiet.

"Getting these." I said, tossing him the bag of groceries. He caught it easily and, without even looking at its contents, set it on the ground beside him. He never dropped my gaze. He was unhappy with me, I knew.

"Why didn't you tell anybody you were going?" he demanded.

"You were all asleep and I didn't want to wake you up. I thought I could take care of myself…" I started, but Leo cut me off.

"You thought you could take care of yourself? You thought you could protect yourself, take the world one on one? Angel, what if you had gotten hurt?! What if something happened and we weren't there to protect you?! What would you do then, huh? That was stupid, Angel! What do you think we were doing here? Worrying about you, that's what!" he shouted. I bristled.

"Leo, I'm not a helpless baby! I can fend for myself." I growled. His eyes narrowed.

"No, you can't. You wouldn't last five minutes on your own." He said matter-of-factly.

"But I did! I lasted a whole hour on my own and I came back just fine, Leo! Look at me!" We were shouting at each other at this point.

"But what if you hadn't?" he whispered, the fire suddenly gone from his eyes. The anger turned to desperation as the thought took form in his mind. "What if you hadn't come back?" he asked, "What if you had gotten hurt and I wasn't there to protect you? What if you needed me and I couldn't come? Or what if you had come home, but you were hurt and broken and in pain and I had to stand by as you suffered, knowing I could have stopped it? I…" He looked at me, fear in his eyes, searching for an answer to his fears. Then I understood; I remembered.

I remembered the nightmares.

A few nights ago, when I had spent the night talking to Leo, he had explained his nightmares to me. They were always the same.

 _"_ _I never remember how it starts,"_ he had told me, _"_ _I just remember hearing screams as you guys are taken away. We had been fighting and the lair is a mess, everything broken._ _I turn around, looking for you guys, but can't find you._ _I hear the screams and try to follow them, but they change direction with every step I take._ _First I hear Mikey, then Raph, then Donnie, then you._ _The screams are filled with pain and despair and...horror._ _Utter and complete horror._

 _"_ _I run. I follow one of your shouts as you're dragged off by the enemy._ _I run faster and faster, but no matter how fast I run I can never catch up._ _I feel so…useless._ _Then I find you._ _If it's Raph, he's in a cage hanging from the ceiling._ _If it's Donnie, he's beaten and unconscious on the ground._ _If it's Mikey, he's chained to the wall and surrounded by guards._ _If it's you you're tied up and hanging from the ceiling._ _I try to help you, but a huge wall of glass surrounds you and I can't reach you. I have to stand there and watch you suffer…_

 _"_ _It's unbearable. I want to help you, but I can't._ _I feel so helpless, so useless, and I can't do anything about it."_

 _"_ _Leo, I never realized how much you wanted to protect us."_ I had said after a moment of silence _._

 _"_ _It's more than that, though."_ He corrected _. "I_ need _to protect you. It's not just that I want to protect you; I need to protect you and keep you happy and safe"_

That's when I finally understood why he was so angry, why he had been waiting on the freezing porch for me to come home after disappearing and not telling anyone where I was going. He was afraid that his worst fears had come true. I felt terrible.

"Leo, I… I'm so sorry." I apologized with all the sincerity of my heart. I walked up to him and took one of his hands in both of mine. "Look, Leo. I'm right here, and I'm okay. You can stop worrying now, see? I really am sorry for disappearing like that. I was wrong to do that. Will you forgive me?"

Leo sighed, "Of course. Just promise you won't do that ever again?"

"Cross my heart." I said. He smiled, relieved.

"Oh, good." I saw his shoulders lift and his face brighten visibly. " Now let's get back inside. Donnie will be happy to get these supplies."


	16. Chapter 16: Cheater

The snow-storm came back that night with increased fury and continued for three days. The house became uncomfortably cold during the night when even the weak sunlight was not there to offer what little warmth it could. Another bed was moved into Splinter's room and April was moved to join him in an effort to keep both occupants as warm as possible. I was recruited to watch over them while the boys did some last minute repairs around the house, but I knew the real reason. My core body temperature was103 degrees, far warmer than a human's and even more so than the Turtles'. I acted like a living heater for the room, my wings and body radiating heat constantly. I didn't mind. It gave me plenty of time to read my book.

Splinter woke up on the fourth day, much to everybody's relief. He could only stay awake for a few minutes at a time, but just to know that he was alive and healing was a huge relief to everyone. April still hadn't awoken. Donnie thought she was in shock and her body was recovering very slowly. He was confident she would fully recover, though, and I knew him well enough to trust his judgment, so I didn't worry too much about her.

All of a sudden, I heard Mikey screaming in the kitchen. I flew off my post on the chair (not literally, mind you) and dashed into the kitchen, my heart racing.

"What's wrong?" I nearly shouted. Mikey was staring at a piece of paper on the kitchen table with horror on his face.

"Do you realize what day it is?" he asked, his eyes never moving from the piece of paper, apparently a calendar of some sort.

"Umm… no. What day is it? Is it important?"

"It...is…Christmas Eve! And we haven't done ANYTHING TO DECORATE THE HOUSE!" What were we thinking?!"

The kitchen was silent for a moment as I registered Mikey's dilemma, and then I couldn't help but giggle.

"That's the problem?" I asked, holding my sides with laughter. My wings bobbed up and down with the movement of my body as I laughed. Mikey scowled.

"Yes." He said, more serious than I had ever seen him. "And I will not let it slide. Not this year. Come on, Angel!"

He grabbed my arm and dragged me outside into the front yard. He pointed to the woods on the edges of the property. "I'll go find us a tree if you start finding the decorations buried somewhere in loft of the barn. They'll be in giant cardboard boxes with the word "Decorations' on them. You'll find them easy enough. When you do find them, bring them inside and start on the living room. The others are out doing errands and won't be back until tonight, so we have the house to ourselves all day."

"Yes sir!" I said and gave him a stiff salute. He nodded in satisfaction and sprinted off into the forest. I rolled my eyes, grinning, and headed into the barn. I found the boxes easily enough and brought them into the house with lightning speed. Mikey returned not long after, dragging a modest tree he had obviously just cut down behind him. We found an old tree stand in one of the boxes and set the tree up in the living room with a large bowl of water underneath it. Mikey had trimmed it before it was brought inside, so the sharp scent of the freshly cut pine filled the house with a most wonderful aroma. I set about putting up all the ornaments I could find while Mikey put up the rest of the decorations. Somehow he covered the entire outside of the house with Christmas lights by himself in just under an hour.

"Brrrr…" he shivered as he came in. "That snowstorm is _not_ nice." He rubbed his green hands together viciously, trying to get the blood circulating again.

"Is it really that bad?" I asked. "I thought it had stopped"

"Never underestimate your enemy, even if in this case it is just a snowstorm" said an ancient voice from the hallway. Much to everyone's surprise, Master Splinter stood in the doorway to the hallway, looking at us approvingly. Mikey rushed over and pulled him into a gentle hug then helped him onto the couch in front of the tree.

"Didn't expect to see you up and moving, sensei." He said.

"I was quite tired of that old room." He explained. "Besides, I wanted to see what you two were up to."

"Nothing but trouble," I reassured him. He smiled.

Splinter threaded cranberries and popcorn while Mikey began working his magic in the kitchen and I went outside to get firewood. Mikey insisted we get a roaring fire going so the house would be nice and warm when the others got back.

The freezing wind outside bit through my clothes and chilled me to the bone. I quickly gathered an armful of wood from the woodpile beside the house and brought it inside. I got the fire going, and just in time. A hurried knock at the door sounded through the house. I opened the door and let three very cold and nearly frozen turtles tumble through the doorway onto the mat.

"Why is it so freakin' cold around here?" grumbled Donnie. I giggled.

"Good thing I have a nice warm fire going for you." I said, motioning over to the roaring fire.

"Nope" he said, ignoring my comment. "You're closer. Come here." He reached out and pulled me into a giant bear hug, effortlessly lifting me off my feet and swinging me around the hallway. I squealed in delight. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not caring about how cold his skin was against mine. I felt a purr of pleasure rumble through his chest as I began instantly warming him up.

"My turn," Leo said, dropping the bag of groceries he was holding and reaching for me. Donnie shook his head violently and tucked me under his arm like a football.

"No way, Leo. I got here first. She's mine." When Leo continued to reach for me Don suddenly took off down the hallway toward the kitchen, where Mikey could be heard singing merrily as he cooked. Leo gave chase, not willing to give up that easily. With amazing dexterity, Donnie made it through the kitchen without knocking over any of Mikey's creations and into the living room. Leo, however, nearly knocked over a bowl of pudding and had to make a last-minute save, buying Don and I a few more seconds of head start. He set me down on the couch and turned to face Leo, who had just entered the room. Just then, a snow-covered Raphael entered the room.

"Where's my five-foot heater?" he asked, looking around the room for me.

"Does nobody care that I spent the last half hour building a great big fire for you guys that would warm you up a lot faster than I could?" I asked in exasperation.

"Nope." They said in near unison. I rolled my eyes. Splinter, who was sitting on the other side of the room, gave me a knowing look and a conspiratorial smile. His eyes flicked to the window behind me leading to the back porch, then looked back at me. I gave his a small smile, understanding his suggestion perfectly.

"My sons," he said slowly, getting they guys' attention instantly, "I do believe Leonardo is in the right." Leo gave Donnie a smirk, but Don was having none of it.

"No way! I'd barely had her for a few seconds before he barged in. My turn wasn't done yet."

"Um, yes it was." Said Leo matter-of-factly.

"What am I, chopped liver? I'm the one covered in snow here."

As the three of them argued, I silently slipped the hatch to the window and let it slide open slightly. Unfortunately, a cold gust of wind immediately blew into the house, alerting my brothers of my intention. They all cried out in dismay and reached for me, but I was already out the window and onto the porch, laughing with glee. Before they could follow me I hopped onto the railing and leapt into the air, unfurling my wings and rocketing into the sky.

I landed on the top of the barn lightly, grinning as I watched the boys stumble out of the house, still bickering. Soon, however, they began talking together in hushed tones, obviously plotting how they were going to get me down. A gust of wind carried their voices up to me.

"According to my calculations we have a 15% chance of convincing her to come down willingly…"

"…but where's the fun in that? I say we get up there, pick up the kid by her oversized wings, and carry her down."

Guys, I have an idea. What if we…"

Unfortunately for me, the wind decided to die down just then and I didn't hear the rest of Leo's idea. I shrugged my shoulders, waving my fingers at them playfully whenever they looked up at me. I sat down on the snow, tucking my wings around me to keep out most of the cold, and decided to wait and play along with their little game. I didn't have to wait long: within minutes Raph had taken off into the forest, Leo had disappeared into the house, and Donnie had begun racing toward the barn doors. Confused, I stood up, bouncing on the balls of my feet anxiously. I peered over the edge of the roof and saw Donnie climbing up the worn walls with his ninja claws at an alarming rate.

 _Cheater!_ I thought, backing away from the edge of the roof but never taking my eyes off of the place where I thought he would pop up; while I was distracted, however, Raph had apparently been climbing the back side of the barn and conveniently popped up behind me, making me jump literally three feet in the air. He reached out to grab me from behind, but lucky for me a few loose feathers had come loose when I jumped and landed on his face. He sneezed, batting at the black fuzzies like they were flies. I sprinted back to the front of the barn, leaping over Donnie, who had just arrived at the top, and gliding into the open air above the back yard. I was just thinking I had given them the slip when I heard something whizzing though the air. I spin around in mid-air, but it was too late. The net engulfed me, pressing my wings against my body; I began tumbling to the ground uncontrollably despite my efforts to get free. Instead of crashing to the ground, however, I fell into a pair of strong arms. I glared at Leonardo from beneath my rope prison.

"If you weren't three times my size I swear I would pummel you to death right here and now." I said, trying my best to sound angry. Leo knew me too well for that, however, and just rolled his eyes at me and grinned.

"Ah, but I am three times your size and currently have you trapped in a net that probably weighs more than you do, so I don't have to fear about being pummeled to death just this moment." He said, winking. I shook my head in mock frustration but couldn't keep a grin from appearing on my face. He just smiled all the wider and put me down, helping me untangle myself from the heavy net. Raph and Donnie soon joined us. We walked back to the house together leisurely, joking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Before we got inside, though, Mikey threw open the door, obviously excited.

"Dudes, get in here now! April's awake."


	17. Chapter 17: I'll be home for Christmas

The evening was wonderful. April had indeed woken up while we were playing around outside and though she could only stay awake for small amounts of time, it was a great spiritual boost for everyone to see her smile again. I didn't know her as well as the guys' did, so I said my hellos and then left them alone. April and the Turtles had something special, I realized. Something that had developed over years and from enough near-death experiences to drive a normal person insane. But that didn't matter, because they would always have each other. _That's what family is for isn't it? To stand by you when the rest of the world is against you._ I thought. My heart suddenly ached for my own family, the one who probably thought I was dead.

Splinter, who had already checked in on April, had come to join me outside in the hallway. He didn't miss the forlorn look on my face and frowned in concern.

"Are you alright, my child?" he asked. I shook myself mentally, putting on a smile to mask the pain inside.

"Yes sensei, I'm fine. Just…thinking." I said. He looked at me thoughtfully, not fooled for a minute.

"Why don't you find them?" he suggested. I looked at him sharply. He nodded slowly, stroking his beard. How had he guessed I was thinking about my family?

"But sensei, what about April? She just woke up and we need to find out what happened to you guys. Besides, people should be with their families during the holidays, not away from them."

"Which is exactly why you should go, my daughter." He said sagely. I looked at him with a new respect. This rat, who could take on four seven-foot ninja turtles and not even break a sweat, was taking care or his five-foot, fifty pound daughter with an attentiveness most fathers only dreamed of having. I simply nodded my head, too overcome with emotion to trust myself to speak. "I shall tell the others where you have gone." He said, pushing me towards the door. "They will understand. Now go!"

On impulse I turned around and threw my arms around his neck, giving him a great big hug. He was surprised at first, but returned the hug fiercely, despite the fact that it was made a bit awkward with my wings in the way. Then I was out of the house and in the air, soaring faster than a car could drive back toward New York City.

I watched my family from the outside of the window, filled with both intense love and unbelievable despair. There was my mother, her hair pulled back in a ponytail the way it had been for the last sixteen years. There was my dad, wearing the flannel I had gotten him a few years ago for Christmas. I saw my little siblings running around inside, playing with toys and laughing. My heart ached.

 _I should be in there._ I thought .

The smell of pumpkin pie wafted outside and filled my nose, just as it had every year of my life during Christmas time. I began crying silently, wanting more than anything to go see my family again. How can anyone expect someone to sit outside and watch their family laugh and sing and know they should be in there with them but can't be? How was I supposed to sit out here and watch my family have Christmas without me? I loved them so fiercely it physically hurt, but here I was, watching them through a frosty window on Christmas Eve. Suddenly, I saw my dad get up from his chair and pick up a present from the Christmas tree. With a jolt I saw it was addressed to me. My family suddenly grew silent, watching Dad with sad eyes. I floated to the ground, making sure to keep to the shadows but wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Even though we are missing part of our family this year" he began, his voice heavy with pain, " I still think we should open every gift under the tree this year. I –" He tried to go on, but couldn't. Even mother, who never cried, was weeping silently next to him. My little siblings bowed their heads, tears and snot running down their little faces shamelessly.

 _I'm right out here!_ I thought, biting my lip to make sure I didn't actually scream the words through the window. _Please, just come outside! I'm not dead; I'm not gone; I'm not leaving you! I love you so much…please…please just come outside. I love you more than anything…I…_

"Even though…she…is no longer with us…" Dad continued. My heart wrenched within me.

 _He can't even bear to say my name. Oh, daddy… your little girl isn't gone! I promise I'm right out here._ _Please daddy, I miss you._

"…we will always love her. Austin, will you go put this outside for us? That way Santa will be able to take her present to her."

Austin nodded his four-year old head obediently and reached for the present. He went to the back door and threw it open, throwing an unexpected ray of light onto the back yard, including the part where I was hiding. I froze. I didn't want him to see me, but at the same time I did. I wanted to let him know I was okay, that his big sister was still there for him. But how could I?

He padded out into the snow and carefully set it down in the middle of the yard. He turned to go back inside when suddenly he saw me standing there, my wings outstretched and covered in snow. His eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. I knew I had only seconds before he would overcome his surprise.

"Austin, I love you." I said quickly, my voice thick with emotion. "Tell mommy and daddy and the others that I love them too and that I will be watching over you. I'm so sorry I can't be with you, but it's best this way. Oh, how I love you! Tell mom and dad that their baby girl is home for Christmas."

I couldn't take it anymore. I backed away, tearing my eyes away from his hopeful, disbelieving gaze. I leapt into the air and began to fly away.

"But sissy! Come back! I love you…" I heard his little voice call out to me. A great, wracking sob escaped my throat and I crash landed in a nearby tree in despair. By now Mother and Father had heard Austin's cry and had come out to investigate.

"Honey, what's wrong? Who were you talking to?" Mother asked. Austin turned to her, his face serious.

"I saw Sissy." He said simply. "She was an angel and she talked to me." Mother and Father exchanged alarmed looks. If Austin noticed he didn't say anything. He continued, "She said for me to tell you she loves us and that she'll me watching over us. She said…" he struggled to remember my exact wording. "…she said that your baby girl is home for Christmas."

My parents were shocked beyond words. Kim and Andie, my little sisters, had come out with them but began whining that they were cold. My dad looked my mother straight in the eyes and I could tell something had passed between them, though no words had been spoken. He took all three of my siblings inside, leaving my mother alone outside. I watched her carefully from my spot on the branch, my heart swelling with love for this woman who had raised me. She stared out into the white night, taking no mind of the snowflakes that were covering her blond hair in a fine dust. After a few minutes she spoke into the darkness.

"I don't know if you can hear me or if you're even there but… If you are there, tell my little angel I love her. We all do. Wish her a merry Christmas for me, will you?" She spoke softly, but I caught every word. After a few more moments she turned and went inside, closing the door softly behind her.

"I will, mommy. I will." I whispered.


	18. Chapter 18: A Spy Among Us

Note to the reader: Just wanted to warn you that the next few chapters are going to get a little darker than how I normally write. I felt like something a little more serious was due to happen about now, so I went ahead and did it. Hang in there, guys! It'll be back to normal soon. And thanks again for actually reading!

I had known that it would be rough going back, but I had no idea it would be this rough. I had stopped by a convenience store before I started to head back, much to the annoyance of a very tired employee, and now had a bag of goodies weighing me down as I flew. Worse than that, though, was the fact that I was flying against the freezing, snowy wind. By the end of the first hour I had to stop and thaw my wings underneath a lamppost lest my feathers start to freeze. Even though I had pretty much stopped molting and most of my feathers were sturdy and black and heavy duty, I could still feel my wings freeze up under the intense cold. As I started off again I realized that there was no way I could fly the whole way. The next time my wings started to freeze up again, when I landed I hit the ground running and traveled that way: my feet barely made an indent on the snow as I ran and if I angled my wings just right they would lift me up as I ran and carry me a few hundred feet before I touched ground again. It wasn't as fast as flying, but thanks to my mutation I was still going about as fast as a car would drive.

I made it back around five in the morning, nearly frozen (my hair completely so) but determined to finish the mission I had set for myself. In a stroke of unbelievable good luck, Splinter was the only one awake. His old eyes widened in concern when he saw my ragged condition, but the silly grin on my face soon dispelled the worst of his fears.

"How was it, my daughter?" he asked.

"Wonderful, sensei. I can tell you more later, but I'm on a tight schedule right now and really need your help with something. Can you order the boys to sleep in or something? I can't have them seeing the house on Christmas Day before I'm done with my master plan." I panted, holding up the tired plastic bag holding my bounty. Splinter gave me a curious look, but just nodded his head and headed toward the guys' bedrooms. I couldn't help but giggle when instead of entering the boys' bedrooms he simply stood outside each of their doors and said something to the effect of 'If you come out before I instruct you to I will make an improvised hashi and put you in it,'

I set to work, pulling dozens upon dozens of strings of twinkle lights out of the bag and stringing them up around the living room. I lighted the small tea lights I had gotten and set them up around the room. Even though we didn't have any presents under the tree or a plate of cookies for Santa, it was a merry sight to see. After straightening up the room and doing some last-minute cleaning, I nodded to Splinter, who immediately told his sons they could come out and see the living room.

Nobody came.

I stared at the hallway in disbelief. Where were they? Did they dare to still sleep after all my hard work? I stormed into Mikey's room, prepared to knock him upside the head, when I remembered that it was Christmas and that I should probably cut the guys some slack. Mikey's room was messy, with blankets hung up all over the walls and covering the window, causing the strings of Christmas lights hung all across the ceiling to be the only source of light in the room. Pillows and stuffed animals were strewn across the carpeted floor, so instead of my original plan I simply grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. Mikey grunted, ignoring my efforts to fully waken him.

"Good morning, sleepy head." I said, sitting on the edge of his bed and tickling his chin. He smirked and wrapped both his arms around my waist, burying his face in my stomach.

"Good morning, teddy bear." He purred. I laughed, swatting him on the head playfully, but knowing that there was no way I could get out of his powerful hold without some help.

"Leo," I called to the room next door, "I need your help with something, please." Mikey, sensing what I was doing, shook his head and squeezed me all the tighter, pushing all the air out of my lungs. "…now, please…Leo…" I whispered with the little air I had left.

A very sleepy Leonardo, with no mask, no gear, and a very old blanket draped across his broad shoulders, quickly filled the doorway. He took one look at the situation and broke out laughing. Finally he intervened, easily breaking Mikey's hold around my waist. I gasped, my chest heaving.

"You...are...unbelievable." I said in between breaths, falling back against his chest. He just smiled at me and tickled my chin with his finger.

"Good morning," he said again. I slipped off his bed before he could hug me again and into Donnie's room. His room, unlike his younger brother's, was neat and organized besides the massive pile of books in one corner. His desk was littered with a few papers and the walls were covered in schematics and drawings and such, but overall it was pretty neat. The white walls needed some color, I decided, but that would have to wait for later. I walked up to the sleeping form and rubbed my hand up and down the back of his shell, smiling as he squirmed with pleasure. For being seven feet tall and massively built, these brothers could look awfully similar to an overjoyed puppy that's getting its back rubbed if they wanted to. Donnie yawned, his chocolate eyes still clouded with sleep, and looked up at me.

"Time to get up, little guy," I said. He raised an eyebrow at that.

" 'Little guy'? I'm approximately 247% larger than you, not counting the wings." He said sleepily. I just giggled and left the room, bumping into Raph once I got into the hallway.

"Watch it, kid." He said, shoving me into the wall with his shoulder.

"Oh, right," I said, putting on a grumpy expression and hunching over my shoulders. "I'm Raphael. I hate mornings. I'm the big guy who pushes everyone around. Out of the way, little bird, because I'm Raph and I'm scary like that."

That put the others into a fit of laughter. Knowing what his reaction would be, I ducked, narrowly missing a playful swat to the head from Raph. As my last stop, I squeezed around the boys and into April's room, pleased to find her awake in her bed. She looked worn and very thin, but her countenance brightened when she saw me come in.

"Hey there, Angel," she said weakly. "What a pleasant surprise. I thought you had flown off somewhere last night."

"I had," I answered, suddenly aware that my wings were feeling really sore and tense. I made a mental note to ask Mikey to help me work the kinks out as we went about our morning. "But I'm back now. I… I went to see my family. My real family. In New York."

April looked at me, her surprise evident on her face. "And they didn't freak out?"

"They didn't see me. Well, my baby brother did, but nobody believed him when he said his oldest sister had grown wings."

"How did it feel to see them again?"

"Wonderful and awful at the same time. I guess I finally accepted the fact that my family and I can never be truly together again, not the way it was before. But I also came to appreciate just how kind you all were for taking me in the way you did. So I just wanted to say thank you, April, for putting up with me and for sharing your adopted family with me."

Tears sprang to April's eyes and she reached across the old quilt to take my hand. "I know you feel like you lost your family in the mutation, but remember that you have a new one to help alleviate that loss. And remember they are not truly gone. They will always love you. And so shall we." I nodded, suddenly fighting off tears myself.

"Thank you, April. Now, I'd better get back to the boys before they die of curiosity. I decorated the living room for Christmas and let me tell you, it's pretty amazing."

"You do that, dear. I think I'm going to take a nap for a while."

I left April to herself and went back into the hallway, shutting her door softly behind me. The Turtles, still waiting patiently in the hallway, looked at me expectantly. I was struck once again by just how big they were, just how strong and powerful each of the brothers were individually and how strong they were as a team. And for yet another time I was struck by a very simple fact: I was safe here.

Little did I know just how wrong I was.

The spy peered through his binoculars, taking in the situation with sad eyes.

 _Are they really making me do this on Christmas? It will tear them apart!_ He thought with an ache in his heart. He may be a trained mercenary, but he was also a husband and a father. No amount of merciless training at three in the morning was ever going to get rid of his fathering instinct. He had learned to push it aside, to not pay attention to it, but now it hit him like a rock.

 _I'm going to have to kill her…_

The thought reminded him of the whole reason he was crouched uncomfortably in a tree in the middle of the forest on Christmas morning and he shook off the sudden passions that had overcome him. Now he was all business. He put the binoculars away and pulled out a digital copy of the report on the girl they called Angel Wings, scanning it quickly to refresh his memory. Finally seeing the tidbit of information he desired, he pulled out a specially-made grappling hook that could stick to most anything, even an icy roof. He put the report away and shot the hook toward the roof. It stuck.

He glided down from the tree and landed on the snow-covered ground silently. His black hood covered most of his face, hiding it in shadow as he peered inside the window to the living room. Inside the old house he could see the Turtles and Angel talking and laughing happily. Taking care of the girl would be easy. It was getting her alone without the others fast on his tail that was going to be the hard part. But luckily he had a plan—a very good plan.

There was a knock outside the back door and I hopped up to get it, my wings nearly hitting Raph in the face. He swatted them away playfully, finishing the cookie he had in one bite.

"I'll get the door." I said. "It's probably Donnie."

Donatello had left a few minutes earlier to get something from the barn and should have been back any minute now. I left the warm cocoon of the living room and went into the back hallway that connected to the back porch.

"Don, you know it's not locked, right?" I cajoled as I approached the door and opened it in one swift movement.

Nobody was there.

I walked out into the cold a little ways, my skin instantly covered in goose-bumps from the freezing wind howling around.

"Donnie?" I called, suddenly wary. Something was not right here. Suddenly I heard a voice calling frantically from the woods a few yards from the back porch. It was Donatello!

"Help!" the voice cried. "Angel, Leo, anybody! I can't move! Help m—" Something cut Donnie off and the air was eerily silent. Without a second thought I sprinted in the direction his voice had come from, not even warning the others where I was going. The wind buffeted me as I ran and I tucked my wings against my body tightly, knowing full well that if they unfurled against my wishes I would be in for a lot of pain as the wind whipped them around uncontrollably.

As I ran, Donnie yelled out again, this time farther in front of me. _That's odd. He sounded closer from the house…_ I thought, but I soon dismissed the thought. Now I was really worried about him. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain. I ran faster.

As I ran, I lost track of where I actually was in the forest. Donnie's voice seemed to move around in the trees, getting deeper and deeper into the forest and farther and farther away from the house.

"Angel!" Donnie screamed to my left.

"Hold on!" I cried, frantic. Where was he?

Then, out of the blue, I could see him. He was unconscious on the snow, his hands bound behind his massive shell.

"Don!" I gasped, noting his bruised eye and a nasty gash on his forehead. The blood had trickled down his temple and onto the cloth that gagged his mouth. "What happened to you?" I breathed in horror. _Wait, he's gagged? Then how did he talk?_ I wondered, suddenly suspicious. Then, shaking myself out of my reverie, I tried to rush over to my wounded brother.

I never reached him.

A searing pain suddenly blossomed at the base of my skull on the back of my neck, just below the hairline. I felt an electric current run up and down my spine, eerily like when I was in Sack's lab all those months ago. My body went limp, crumpling to the ground like a wet piece of paper. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe.

The snow was blocking my windpipe as I lay face-down on the freezing ground. My heart raced, but I couldn't so much as move my pinkie, let alone shift myself so I could breathe. Right when I thought my lungs were going to explode for want of air I felt a rough pair of hands flip me over. I gasped, the cold air burning my lungs. I tried to cry out, but my mouth refused to respond, refused to form words. I looked around frantically, fear coursing through my body along with the current. Suddenly a pair of cold, black eyes were looking down at me. His face was covered with a mask so all I could see were his eyes. He said nothing, just knelt down beside me and reached behind my head, fingering a device that had somehow latched onto me and was causing the pulsing current that paralyzed me.

"You will make no sound," he warned, moving his black hood out of his face, "or I will do this before you can scream" He pressed on the small device lightly and the current intensified a hundred-fold, bringing tears of pain to my eyes. I wanted to badly to scream, but I couldn't. I felt like I was going to explode. The man let go and the pain subsided. My tears froze to my cheeks as they fell, not even reaching the snow. Then, standing up, the man pressed a button on his watch and the current stopped altogether. Before I could stop myself, I drew in breath to scream, both in pain and in terror. Before I could, he pressed the button again and the agonizing pain was back. My back arched convulsively as I tried in vain to stop the torture. Then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. I breathed heavily, sweating now, but did not scream, too exhausted to even try.

"Good." Said the man approvingly. "you're learning"

Who was this man? Who did he work for? Why was he here? What did he want with me? The questions never stopped.

"You are going to come with me," he announced in an icy voice. I shook my head weakly, my chest still heaving. He raised an eyebrow and reached for his watch again. I flinched, losing all resolve at the thought of enduring the agony yet again. He grinned smugly.

"That's what I thought. We're going to go deeper into the woods and then I am going to kill you. Any questions?" he asked nonchalantly. I was too exhausted to really register what he was saying. Before I had a chance to clear my head he grabbed a rifle from behind a bush and a bag of his supplies. Then, crouching down beside me once more, he pulled a small syringe from his pocket and injected something into my neck. Within seconds I was unconscious.


	19. Chapter 19: Unwelcome Surprises

I awoke with a splitting headache. I felt like I had been run over by a Mac truck, then again by a steamroller. My vision was blurry, but I could make out trees above me as I lay sprawled on the ground.

 _Okay, I'm still in the forest._ Even putting a coherent thought together brought on a tidal wave of throbbing pain to my head. I groaned.

"You're awake." Said the man, surprised. He was on the phone with somebody and was only half-listening to what the other person was saying. I tried to sit up, but found that my arms were tied together behind my back, pinning my wings against my body in an uncomfortable fashion. My ankles were also tied. What felt like a dog-collar rested around my neck on my collarbone. What was going on?!

"Yes, Hun, I understand the situation just as well as you do… Yes, I remember what my orders are. What do you mean 'what they were'? Unless the Commander has specifically changed my mission I am going to kill… What? Are you sure? We'll me there in an hour." The man in black abruptly ended his call and turned to me. "You don't get motion sick, do you?" he asked. I stayed silent, watching him warily. "Good. Then you won't mind the ride at all."

As if on que, a bright light turned on directly above us and the trees began to sway with a powerful downward rush of wind. A helicopter was descending towards us, and fast. The immediate area was too crowded for it to land, however, so it dropped down a harness and what looked like a short, fat, oversized metal can with no lid or bottom. The cylinder, big enough to fit around a child at the shoulders, looked more like an oversized hand-cuff than anything. The man grabbed the cylinder, pressed a series of buttons on the side, and popped it open so it could be put around something. Unfortunately, that something was me. The man walked over to me, ignoring the deafening rush of wind that surrounded us, and yanked me into a standing position by my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" I cried out before I could stop myself. I strained against him, but his powerful grasp was just too much. He slipped the halved cylinder around my torso and snapped it shut, effectively pinning my arms and wings to my side by a giant band of metal. I could barely breathe, it was squeezing my chest so tightly. He didn't answer me, just reached over where his harness lay along with a carabineer attached to a long cord running from the chopper to where we were. He grabbed the cord, hooked the carabineer to a loop on the back of my metal inner-tube, and then yanked on the cord. Before I could register what was happening, I was being yanked off my feet and into the air by the cord. I cried out, caught off guard. Before I knew it I was being roughly helped into the cockpit of the helicopter and then transferred to the back wall, where my metal band apparently locked into the wall itself. I was stuck beyond a shadow of a hope. A few seconds later the man from the ground was being hauled up, too. Before he had even gotten into the cockpit we were flying away, towards the city. I craned my head, screaming for Leo, for Raph, anybody to come and save me, but my voice was drowned out by the deafening hum of the helicopter and deadened by the falling snow.

The next few hours were a blur. I was gagged at some point, but honestly I couldn't have said anything even if I wanted to. What was there to say? We arrived in downtown New York at an abandoned glue factory, the helicopter landing precariously on the roof just long enough for the man in black to quite literally throw me out and into the arms of a notorious gang in NYC: The Purple Dragons. The men who had come to pick me up didn't seem fazed by seeing my wings, and I could only assume they had known about my mutation beforehand. How, I had no idea.

"Hun really wanted _her_?" Asked a lanky man to my left. The man carrying me grunted, threw me over his shoulder, and left without saying a word. The others followed. One short car-ride, an exchange of money, and disorienting trek through back-streets later, I was being handed over, yet again, to another party. This one was about six and a half feet tall, with a purple dragon insignia tattooed on his arm, and a ponytail of long, blond hair tied behind his head. Hun looked at me with interest.

"You sure this the one Sacks had wanted?" he asked one of my escorts. He nodded, not saying a word. Hun, seemingly satisfied, picked me up by my shoulders. The metal band around my chest had long ago bitten into my skin hard enough to draw blood and thin streams of red were now running down the steel face. I grimaced as he moved me around, looking at me. Then he set me roughly on my feet and motioned for my escorts to go. They left without a word. Hun looked at me for a long moment and I glared back. I didn't know who this man was, but I instantly hated him. If he was working with Sacks, I wanted nothing to do with him. He put a hand on my shoulder.

"Get your filthy paws off me, hotshot." I spat, twisting in his grip. He laughed, making me jump.

"And who are you to tell me what to do, filth? You're nobody. Now, I suggest you keep that tongue of yours in check before it gets you into some serious trouble."

Before I could stop myself, I had made yet another biting comment, this time aimed at him personally. His eyes boiled with anger. He lifted his massive hand and slapped me across the face, sending me sprawling. Without hands to catch myself I landed on the frozen cement ground, my head colliding with the back alley wall. I saw stars, then nothing. Absolutely nothing.


	20. Chapter 20: Old Enemies

The next few days were difficult, to say the least. Days turned into weeks and it was not long before I had forgotten what day it was. I spent most of my days in a cell in the basement of Hun's building. He didn't bother me much. His cronies, however, had made it a sport to taunt me and tease me until I broke. Whether that be physically or emotionally they didn't care. I quickly learned to fear everyone with the purple dragon insignia on their person, for they held no mercy for me or my case. They didn't care that I was starving or that I was hurt. They didn't care about me at all. But no matter.

My cell wasn't that bad. Sure, the cold was biting during the night and there were enough rats and such to fill a school, but after knowing Splinter so well I was able to get along with them well enough to keep my peace for the most part. And when they did feed me they fed me pretty well. Well enough to stay alive, anyway.

"Hey, bird-girl," yelled one of the guards watching over my cell. I winced out of habit, instinctively tensing in case of an attack. She was a small woman, about my size, but she was vicious. She had beaten me senseless the first night I had gotten here. I had hated her ever sense, but had had no way to retaliate. So instead I had taken my blows as they had come and as the weeks passed on I grew numb to them. I had to if I wanted to survive.

"I said, hey brid-girl!" the woman yelled again, hitting the butt of her rifle against the bars of my cage. I flinched again, but didn't say anything, sitting down against the wall and pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them in a feeble attempt to block the world out.

"Waddya say we play a little game, tweety-bird? Let's see if you can stay awake for a full 72 hours, savvy? Not a wink of sleep for you, no sir-ee. You know what? I like that idea! Let's keep you awake." She cackled, turning to the other guards on duty and immediately jumping into discussions about how they were going to carry out their plan.

I wanted to cry, but dared not do so where she could see me. I hadn't slept at all in the past 24 hours and to add a full three days onto that streak… I couldn't do it. I hated this place. I wanted to go home. I didn't know how long it had been since I had seen the turtles. Undoubtedly they were back in the city by now. Knowing they were so tantalizingly close was torture, especially when I knew they likelihood of them actually finding me was next to nothing. We were both in the city, yet in two different worlds. Maybe mere miles apart, yet separated by galaxies.

"Too bad the plan didn't work on your other friends," said the woman suddenly, turning back to me. I lifted my head warily, my interest peaked.

"You know, the human and the rat." She clarified. "Hun had ordered their demise a few days before we picked you up but the bomb didn't go off properly. As far as I know they are still alive. They weren't supposed to actually survive the explosion"

 _The Purple Dragons were the reason why April and Splinter were hurt? But why?!_

"It was my idea really," She bragged. "I knew those freaks were close to her and the rat so I said to myself 'why not take them both out and really shake them before we get the real prize?' That was gonna be the plan, see. To shake them to their core with the death of two of their closest friends and family members and then go in for the final kill: you.

"I couldn't be sure it would work, of course. Maybe it would serve just the opposite effect and make them stronger, more resilient to hurt. But I didn't think so. Nope. Not for one minute. I know human nature, see, and I know that a serious blow like that would take months, if not years, to recover from. And I wasn't going to give them that. I gave them a few weeks. A matter of days, really, before I convinced Hun to go and get you. That's when I found out the girl and the rat were still alive.

"I was troubled, of course, but nowhere near beaten. 'Actually,' I thought, 'this might work to my advantage.' And it did. Oh, it did! See, when they had just gotten their hopes up that life would be okay, that their family would be healthy and whole once again, that's when we struck. That's when we sent in the assassin to go and kill you. But now… here you are. 'Why keep the little bird locked up in a cage instead of just killing her like we had planned?' I asked. Hun told me it was because he had a plan. He had tried to destroy the Turtles once and they got up and walked it off like it was nothing. But not this time. No, not this time. Now, with you in our custody, we'll be able to hurt them so hard they won't be able to walk it off. None of them."

The woman laughed viciously, the wicked sound bouncing off the cold walls and echoing up to the higher levels. Hun, sitting at his desk, heard the faint echoes and allowed a small smile to play at the corners of his lips. He shifted his bulk around until he was more comfortably situated in his chair and leaned back, looking at the door to his office but not really seeing it. He loved to hear his employees get so excited before a kill.


	21. Chapter 21: Plans Revealed

Note: I switch to Mikey's point of view for a little while. There was a whole different aspect to the story that needed to be told and I just couldn't make it work without switching who told the story. Enjoy!

We hadn't seen Angel in weeks and it was starting to worry all of us, especially Leo. He had spent countless hours pouring over the data Donnie gave him every night, hoping for any sign of her. So far, nothing had shown up that could get us anywhere. I sighed once again, playing with the necklace dangling from my neck and absently kicking the floor with my heels as I sat on the couch.

"Mikey!" Raph yelled from the other room. I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. "Stop that annoying sound! It's driving me up the wall." I stuck my tongue out in his general direction but stopped my heel-scuffing nonetheless. Everyone was on edge nowadays and I didn't want to start any friction if I could avoid it. Suddenly Donnie yelled from the other room, scaring me out of my shell. Figuratively, of course.

"Guys, you might want to get in here. Like, now!" He sounded excited, which was happier than I had heard him since Angel had disappeared. Maybe this was a good sign! I flipped backwards off the couch, pushing myself free of the back of the couch with sheer arm strength. Landing lightly on my feet despite my size, I took off toward Donnie's lab. His jumble of computers in the room was beeping wildly, and Don looked practically ecstatic. Leo and Raph joined us soon, worried looks on their faces.

"Relax, dudes." I said nonchalantly, "It's no big deal. Donnie's just found our sister, that's all."

"Actually," Donatello interrupted before we could all get too excited, "I haven't found _her_ , per se, but I have found the people who know where she is and you're not gonna' like it."

"Well, whoever they are they're gonna pay, big time. It's been over a month since we've seen her and for all we know she could be in serious trouble" growled Raph, cracking his knuckles ominously. I grinned, feeling the same feeling of protectiveness welling up inside myself and knowing that whoever got in-between us and Angel was going to wish they had never woken up that morning.

"Slow down, Raph," chided Leo, "We don't even know who we're going up against here. Donnie, what intel do you have?" Don's brow furrowed as he pulled up a file with a complicated-looking name that I didn't even dare try to sound out.

"I have good news and bad news. The good news? We've fought them before, so we know their tactics and tendencies and can compensate with our formations to attack them at their weak points and ensure maximum success and minimal casualties on our side."

I shot a sideways glance at Raph. "Geez, does this guy come with subtitles or anything?" I asked under my breath. He chuckled. If my brainiac brother heard me he didn't show it.

"Besides, even with seven to one odds we have a pretty good chance of winning. Ten to one, we're stretching it."

"So what's the bad news?" Asked Leo. I shifted my weight from foot to foot excitedly, liking where we were and not caring where we were going.

"Who cares about bad news?" I asked, punching Leo in the arm playfully. "They can outnumber us ten to one and we'll still win! What can possibly make the situation not in our favor? We're holding the universe in our three-fingered hands, man! And we're going to get our little sister back! I say we go right now and get her back in time for dinner and a late-night marathon of Wipeout."

"That's just the problem," piped in Donnie, lifting his goggles off his face and rubbing his hand over his eyes wearily. "From the minute we enter the building we have exactly 23 minutes before the whole mission will be compromised. In order to follow the path with the smallest possibility of compromising the mission on our own will take at least half an hour. Maybe 45 minutes. Therefore…"

"We take the risk." Leo's voice left no room for argument. Donnie looked conflicted.

"Leo, If we wait another week so I can gather more intel we could have a greater time limit that would ensure minimal losses. Give me another week so-"

"So what? So we can strap our knee pads on more tightly and wrap ourselves in bubble wrap so we don't get hurt? Little brother, for all we know she could be on the brink of death, thanks to these people! Unlike you, I'm not willing to wait another week to find out or not whether or not that's true," spat Leo. Don bristled.

"I never said I didn't want to bring her home, Leo. I was just stating facts."

"Facts aren't going to bring her home! Data can't protect her, Donnie!"

"But it can protect _us_!"

"Hajime!" Splinter barked from the hallway. The tension in the air was thick and I winced, knowing sensei had caught us butting heads yet again.

"What is this all about?" he implored, looking at us one at a time. Nobody spoke. Finally, rolling my eyes at the still-fuming Leo and Donnie, I piped up.

"Don-man found the place where the bad guys have Angel and we think she's located within the property or in a relatively close proximity. Statistics drawn from the data he's been able to gather so far suggests that we would have just over twenty minutes to get her out of there before reinforcements diminished our chance of success dramatically while in reality we would need twice that amount of time to accomplish the task with minimal chance of casualties on our side, thus creating a dilemma." I took a deep breath, reveling in the astonished looks on my family's faces. I hadn't used words that big in years! Finally, after allowing a faint smile to pass over his face, Master Splinter began to stroke his beard thoughtfully.

"Donatello wants to wait and increase the chance of success, I assume, while Leonardo is eager to reunite our family as soon as possible. Hmmm…. Raphael," he addressed Raph suddenly, catching all of us off guard. "What are your thoughts, my son? You have stayed unusually quiet regarding this heated issue thus far. What is in your mind, child?" Raph was too busy with his own thoughts to notice sensei had called him 'child'. I gave a small smirk.

"Well, sensei, I'm afraid it's nothin' special and I'm pretty sure shell-fer-brains wouldda figured it out had we given him a minute to think, but… What if we just waited a couple of hours, maybe a day or two, worked overtime to get all the info we can about this place and the goons who took our sister and _then_ attacked. Now, I'm not one for putting off the fight…" I chuckled at that, agreeing wholeheartedly. "…especially when it comes to family, but what the nerd says makes sense. So, I guess I'm sayin' we do both."

Now it was my turn to stare. Had Raph really just suggested a _compromise?_ This was the turtle who went for a full two weeks without speaking a word just to win a bet, the turtle who would beat the living daylights out of the dummies in the dojo if they looked at him funny. A _compromise_?!

"A wise idea, my son." Sensei said sagely, looking at Raph with impressed surprise. I rolled my eyes.

"Sensei," interrupted Leo, fuming, "Forgive me if I am out of line here, but I can't believe what I am hearing! For weeks now we have been searching ceaselessly to find Angel and now we have a good start as to where she is. And you want us to sit here and do nothing?!" He raised his voice, fists shaking as he looked at each one of us in turn. I shied away from his fiery gaze. "For all we know she could be hurt or sick, lying in a corner somewhere freezing to death while we sit here and wait warming our toes by the fire until it's safe for us to take a walk around the block! We should be out there already and-"

"Silence!" Splinter barked, bristling with rage. "Leonardo, of all your brothers I would have thought you would be the last one I would have to tell to mind your temper! You mistake our reluctance to jump into action for cowardice, when it is exactly the opposite. By enduring the present a little longer we are ensuring success for the future. My son, we all want our family reunited just as much as you do." He suddenly sounded very weary. "Do not think we are cowards for wanting to be safe. I do not think I could bear it if you or one of your brothers perished tonight. For weeks I have dealt with the possibility of losing a daughter. Do not ask me to lose a son as well."

Leo could have cut the silence with his sword if he had wanted to, it was so heavy. I fiddled with my belt nervously. Finally, with his head hung low, my big brother spoke.

"Forgive me, all of you. I know we're all of edge. We have been ever since she…you know. I guess I just let it get to my head. I just want her home." He voiced all of our hearts with that one sentence. I gave him a sad smile.

"You and me both, bro."

"My sons," Splinter chided, "this is not a time to mourn. Do not dwell on what you cannot change or it will drive you to madness. For the moment, let us concentrate our efforts on bringing Angel home. Donatello?" Donnie's head lifted, meeting our father's eyes. "Tell us what we need to do and we shall do it. I want my daughter home by this time the day after tomorrow, whatever the risk may be to us."

"Hai, sensei. I can work with 48 hours." And just like that, Donnie was all business. I grinned. Now we were getting somewhere.


	22. Chapter 22: Lost and Found

"Alright, Don-man. Give me something to fiddle with so I can pretend to get stuff done while all you big-wigs actually do all the work." I rumbled, only half joking. Donnie eyed me warily.

"Actually, Mike, why don't you and Raph go scout out the place we think she's being held at? Can you find it if I give you the coordinates?"

"It would probably be better if you told me what it looks like and what pizza place it's closest to. I'll find it a heck of a lot faster that way, trust me."

"Fair enough." Donnie typed in a quick search of the address and pulled up a grainy picture of what looked to be a well-to-do business firm or something. The entire side wall was painted an obnoxious purple color.

"That should be easy enough to find. Nearest pizza place?"

"Umm…The Dion's off of 5th and Houston."

"Got it. Be back in an hour." I took off down the hallway towards the exit that would lead to the surface. I heard Raphael groan as he started after me.

"Why do I always get stuck with bozo?" he asked no one in particular. I chuckled.

"Because nobody else can stand me as long as you can." I answered honestly.

"And how long can I stand you without getting annoyed, exactly?"

"If I don't talk or look in your direction or even notice your existence, about 17 minutes. If I do talk, about 30 seconds."

"Sounds about right." He said, catching up to me.

 _See? I'm not as dumb as you guys think I am. Usually…_

We got back to the lair around midnight, both of us panting and clutching our sides as we reported to Donnie.

"Geez! What happened to you? You can run a 4-minute mile and not be winded." He looked at us dubiously as he spoke.

"We…just ran…seventeen miles…in under an hour. Give us a break, man. We may be superhuman, but we're not… superheroes." I gasped, falling onto my back dramatically and breathing heavily. Raph rolled his eyes and filled Don in on what we found.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. The front looks pretty secure, but there is a back door that we could get into without a problem. The roof had skylights, but they're too small for one of us to fit through without making a scene. We saw a basement, but it looked more like a run-down storage area than a working floor. Mike thought it looked like a dungeon." Informed the red-clad turtle in a bored voice. I lifted my head at the mention of my name.

"Well, it did." I defended, rising to my feet. "I could have sworn I heard singing coming from one of the window-wells, like in that horror movie we watched that one time. Only this time, it was real. Maybe that place is haunted!" I clapped my hands to my face in mock horror. Raph rolled his eyes hit the back of my head. I winced, rubbing my scalp and glaring at him. Donnie began speaking again.

"Okay, based on the schematics here and the intel you guys brought back from your escapade…"

"Esca-what now?" I asked. They both ignored me.

"…we should probably attempt an attack from beneath or on ground level. We don't want to make a fuss, especially this close to the general population. We'll have to make it fast. Thanks, guys. You should probably get something to eat." Donnie turned back to his computer, the lighted screen reflecting off his goggles eerily.

"Sounds good to me." I said lightly, heading to the kitchen. "Where'd Leo go?"

" Don't know." Rumbled Raph, falling into step with me. "But I do know I'm going to beat you to the kitchen."

With that he took off, surprisingly light on his feet for just having run seventeen miles like it was nothing. I groaned, racing after him.

The next few hours were both a blessing and a curse. We nearly doubled our information about the place and the enemies within, thanks to an exhausted Donatello's unrelenting effort. By nightfall two days following our original discovery of the building we were geared up and ready to go. We had gone over our plan multiple times, but I still had trouble remembering the details. Apparently Leo saw my confused expression.

"Mikey, do you remember what you're supposed to do?" he asked. I nodded quickly.

"Yeah, bro. Get in there, get angelcakes, get out, don't get caught." I recited. He nodded.

"For you, that's good enough. Let's head out!" ordered Leo. Don and Raph, previously sitting on the couch arguing about something or other, were instantly at our sides. I cracked my knuckles, grinning.

"Let's go steal our sister back."

Laden down with all our gear it took us half an hour to get to the Dungeon, as I liked to call it. The plan was simple: knock on the back door, take out the poor soul who opened it, and get in. Donnie would disable the security systems before-hand, of course, but the rest was up to me. I would get in, clear the area of guards, and let the others follow me into the building. I did that part easily enough after Donnie had worked his magic with the wiring, kicking down the flimsy wooden door and knocking the four guards unconscious in a matter of minutes. It was almost hilariously easy.

"Purple Dragons are just as easy to beat as I remember." I joked, waving my hand to let the others know they could come in. They entered warily, Donnie constantly checking all his screens and beepy-thingies he liked to carry around.

"Thermal scanners aren't picking up anything unusual in the immediate vicinity." He reported, scanning the expanse of the room carefully.

"Do you have X-ray vision with those things? Like, seeing through walls and all that stuff?" I asked, walking over to him and poking his goggles. He slapped my hand away impatiently.

"To some extent, yes. I can't see into the neighboring buildings, but I can see faint outlines a few floors up and d—Oh my gosh!" Donnie jumped suddenly, peering at the floor. "Guys, you'd better see this." He said shakily. Leo yanked the goggles off his head and held them up to his own eyes, his tense expression melting into one of first disbelief, then almost joy at what he saw.

"Is that who I think it is?" he asked, passing the goggles to Raph. Raph peered through the lenses, eventually finding what the others had found and allowing a slow grin to spread across his face. I began tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for my turn.

"Let me in on your little secret and I'll be able to tell you, muscle-head." I snapped, holding out my hand for the goggles. He handed them to me and I lifted them to my face, momentarily stunned by the dozens of flashing signals and the distorted images in backwards colors surrounding me. Then I saw it: far below us was a huddled figure with what looked like two giant blobs attached to her back.

"It's Angel!" I shouted excitedly. The others shushed me quickly, Donnie taking his gear back as he did so.

"Yes, so let's get a move on. Even from here I can tell her body temperature is off from what it usually is, which is never a good sign." He said, putting the goggles back on his head. Beside him, Leo stiffened suddenly.

"Just about time we left, too. The Welcoming Committee just got here. Let's move out!"

As he spoke, at least a dozen Purple Dragon thugs made their way into the room from the far hallway. As of on silent command they began shooting their guns all at once, catching us by surprise. It was a lucky move on their part. The last one they would get.


	23. Chapter 23: Deamons

Note : Brief return to poor Angel's version of the events. Occurring at the same time as the previous chapter, just in a different part of the building.

I stared at the wall to my cell blankly, wishing the dull ache in my stomach would go away. I wished they would feed me once in a while. It had been seven weeks since they had first gotten me and they had only fed me a dozen or so times. Unfortunately for me, I could technically survive on such a meager diet, though it was by no means comfortable. It just meant I wouldn't die just yet. I was painfully thin, each of my ribs visible beneath my shirt. My hair, now mid-way down my back, was knotted and gross from lack of care. I felt awful, I looked awful, and I smelt awful. Right then, I wanted nothing more than to leave this wretched place and go home to the lair, to feel my four brothers' arms around me, and to feel safe for the first time in over a month.

Suddenly there was a large crash upstairs. I flinched instinctively, more out of force of habit than any fear of getting hurt. The guards had gotten vicious in the last few days and now, more than ever, the message was engrained in my brain: nobody can be trusted. The few guards that had been somewhat decent to me had been the cruelest to me in the end, a twisted sort of irony. I was broken and ashamed, but most of all I was afraid. Afraid of those around me, afraid of the place I was in, and afraid of what the future had in store. Hun and his cronies hinted that they had a nasty surprise for me—I had accepted the fact that they might kill me. At this point, anything would be better than the hell I was in now.

There was shouting. Lots of shouting. I heard gunshots. So many gunshots. This was it. I could feel myself shutting down, blocking the world out as the fear of what lie upstairs overtook me.

 _I must survive!_

 _I am ready to die._

 _Mustn't let them get to me!_

 _Take me away from here…_

 _Stay away…_

 _Stay…_

Silent tears streamed down my face, willing the deamons to come and wishing they would stay away. But who were the deamons?


	24. Chapter 24: Safe at Last

Note: Leo's point of view. Again, same time, just in a different part of the building from Angel.

We were close, I could feel it. I shifted my katana in my hands, relishing the familiar power that resonated through them. The others were holding the guards off nicely, not even needing my help. I caught Raph's eye and gave him a silent signal.

 _I'm going to look around. You guys got everything here?_

He nodded, turning back to the fight. I headed toward the back hallway that lead downstairs, listening past the sounds of the fight to the sounds of the darkness below. As I got deeper and the sounds of the light faded away, I began to hear other sounds: water dripping down the wall, a breeze moaning through the halls, and crying. Very soft, very weak, but it was there. Someone was crying. I took off, my covered feet padding down the concrete silently despite my bulk. She was here! But where was she?

"Angel?" I called out quietly. The crying stopped and the corridor was silent. "Angel, are you here?"

I slowed my step, finally coming to a stop in front of a dimly lit cell. My instincts told me she was somewhere inside, but I couldn't see anything at first. After a moment, though, my patience paid off.

"Who are you?" asked a weak voice, cracking from lack of use. My heart ached. Angel sounded terrified.

"It's me, little bird. It's Leo." I sheathed my katanas and crouched down beside the wall to her cell, reaching my hand through the bars and into the darkness. A tentative hand reached out, the pointer finger gently brushing my palm. I moved to hold her hand, but she jerked back into the darkness. Why was she so shy, all of a sudden?

"No, it can't be you." She stammered. I peered into the blackness, trying to make her face out, but she was shrouded in shadows. "You're all back at the safehouse in the woods. You're not even in the city."

"But we are, Angel. We came back as soon as we figured out you had been kidnapped. We've been looking for you everywhere. Please trust me." I pleaded, grabbing onto the bars with both hands now. We only had a few minutes before the others would be here and I needed to make sure she was okay.

"Whoever you are, believe me when I say I couldn't trust you even if I wanted to. They've broken me too badly to trust again." She sounded hollow, empty. Without a sound she stepped into the light just enough for me to see her face. I couldn't help but stare in shocked fury.

"What have they done to you?" I breathed, feeling the anger build up within me like a tidal wave. She looked like a walking skeleton, more fit for a haunted house than an actual person. I wanted so badly to reach out and pull her into my arms, to protect her from everything, to save her from the evils of this world. Nobody messed with my family this badly and got away with it. Nobody.

Angel hung her head, both proud and ashamed of her appearance. Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. I remembered the countless nights I had spent tossing and turning in my bedroom, fighting nightmares upon vivid nightmares, and realized now my fears had become a reality. But, unlike in my dreams, I could do something about them now. In one fluid movement, I unsheathed my katanas and brought them down on the metal bars at a steep angle. The hardened steel of my swords, combined with the force of my fury, bit through the thick bars like a hot knife through butter. The bars shuddered with their newfound freedom, then toppled to the floor. Angel shrieked and returned to the shadows, weeping uncontrollably. I stepped through the freshly-made hole, alarmed. I approached her cautiously as I returned my weapons to their sheaths.

Then, out of the blue, she came flying at me, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her head in my shoulder. It was then that I realized she was crying for joy and not out of fear or sadness. I wrapped my arms around her protectively, feeling a deep love for this young girl well up inside me. She may not be the same species as me, but she was undoubtedly family.

"It really is you!" She cried, holding onto me tighter. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. And right then, with the fight going on up above our heads and the dark cell casting shadows on our battered bodies, I found a sudden peace as I held Angel in my arms, protecting her and shielding her from the evils that had plagued her for the last few weeks.

She was safe now. I was keeping her safe.


	25. Chapter 25: Healer's Art

Note: No more character changes after this one, I promise. We're back to Angel now and will stay as her for the remainder of the story.

I didn't dare believe it was true, but how could it not be? After weeks of being terrified for my life I was finally safe! My family had come to rescue me. I felt Leonardo's arms around me, holding me protectively against his broad chest. I was sobbing into his chest, clinging onto him for everything I was worth.

"It really is you!" I cried, squeezing him tighter and wanting to never let go. I could feel him nodding, pulling me tighter into his protective embrace. My bruised and broken ribs screamed in agony, but I didn't care enough to let go.

"Let's get out if here." He said, letting me go. I panicked. Weeks of torture and insecurity had left me scarred and I couldn't bring myself to let go of the one safe thing in my life. Too terrified to be ashamed of my child-like behavior, I clung to him.

"No," I pleaded, my voice cracking, "Don't let me go. If you let me go they'll get to me and I just can't take that anymore. They do terrible things, Leo. Terrible, terrible things. And the pain…" I dissolved into a snotty-nosed, blubbering mess, my shoulders shaking with silent sobs as I tried in vain to block out the monstrous thoughts that came rushing at me like a flood. I could feel Leo stiffen beneath me, anger running through his body. He reached beneath my knees with one arm and picked me up swiftly, cradling me against his massive chest.

"Angel, listen to me very carefully. They're never going to touch you ever again so long as there is breath in my body, you hear?" He whispered fiercely, starting at a light jog out of the cell and down the hallway leading to the upstairs stairs. "In any of our bodies, actually. We're all going to protect you with everything we've got and nothing is ever going to hurt you ever again."

"You mean they're here, too?" I asked weakly, already feeling drained from the last few minutes. My broken body couldn't take much anymore before feeling utterly exhausted in just a few moments.

"All four of us came to get you, little bird. We've all been searching frantically to find you so when Donnie got a whiff of where you were we were all biting at the bit to go and get you. Believe it or not it was Raph who convinced us, convinced me, to stay a few more days to make it a safer rescue for you."

My eyelids felt like lead and I had trouble making anything focus. My head lay against his plastron limply, bouncing slightly with each move he made. Inside me, a feeling of joy and love welled up and rose to my throat, but all I could manage was a sorry excuse for a "mm-hmm" sound that sounded more like a dying car than anything. I finally surrendered to the exhaustion that was pressing down on me and let my body totally relax in my big brother's arms. And for the first time in weeks I felt the feeling that I had longed to feel since that fateful day in the woods: safety. Here, in the arms of those I loved, I was safe. Here, I was home.

I awoke with a massive headache and a strange feeling of being completely wet. I also felt like I was floating, like I was in water. I shook my head, but the motion was slow and I felt resistance. I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry, like I was looking through really thick glass. For a heart-stopping moment my mind flashed back to when I was in the hated pink tube-my second birthplace, if you will. Then, after a few seconds, I realized I was in a bathtub filled with warm water, clothes still on and everything. _Okay, that's a good sign. I know this bathtub!_ I strained to make my eyes focus. _And there! That sink!_ _I know that sink._ _And that mirror._ _I know this place!_

My heart racing, I tried to push myself up into a sitting position in the water, but instantly a pair of strong, green, three-fingered hands were pushing me gently but firmly back down into the blissfully-warm water.

"No you don't, silly bird. No moving until I tell you to," gently chided a tired-yet-happy-looking Donatello. I gave him a weak smile, the best I could muster right then.

"Is that really you?" I croaked. He nodded, putting his hand into the water and stroking my wet hair gently.

"Yes, little sister, it really is me."

"But how? In the woods you were…" I couldn't finish, my voice giving out before I could end my question. He pulled his hand back out and dried it on a nearby towel, giving me a small smile.

"Sedated. And covered in lots of mud and dirt and stuff that can look awfully similar to blood and bruises in the dark. He never actually hurt me, Angel. He just knocked me out, tied me up, and threw some mud on me. By the time I woke up, though, you guys were already gone. But you're here now, so that's all that matters. Let's not think about that stuff right now, hmm?"

I nodded, fighting the urge to fall into my numbing mind place that I had had to disappear to for the past few weeks just to stay sane. Just the thought of the past few weeks was too much to bear. Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Got room for one more?" Asked an orange-clad turtle, peeping his head in through the doorway. My eyes lit up.

"Mikey? Is that you?" I asked, craning my neck to see if it really was him. He gave me a broad smile.

"In the flesh, my dear." He teased, coming in and kneeling down beside the tub. The small room now insanely crowded, Donnie stood and shuffled out of the bathroom, looking me over one last time to make sure I was obediently staying in the bathtub.

"I hope you didn't have too much fun without me while I was gone." I said jokingly. He gave me a sad smile.

"To be perfectly honest none of us have really been able to have much fun while you were…you know. Even April hasn't been able to hang out much."

"How is April?" I asked, suddenly remembering the terrible state she had been in when I was captured. A distant memory of the guard woman admitting she had been the brains behind the whole attack came up and my blood began to boil. "She didn't look too good last time I saw her."

"She's great, actually." Mikey began telling me in very animated tones how April had healed nicely, thanks to Donatello's diligent care. A week or so after I had disappeared she had returned to the city to check in with an actual doctor before returning back to her normal lifestyle.

I couldn't help but laugh when he started describing how insulted Donnie had been when April had first suggested she see an actual doctor before calling herself healed. The motion sent a searing pain through my chest so I quickly stopped, my smile transfiguring into a pained grin. Michelangelo looked alarmed.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyes widening in shock. I nodded.

"I'm pretty beat up right now, dear. They weren't very kind to me, to say the least." I said softly, my eyes lowering unconsciously. His face darkened ominously.

"No, they weren't. And they're going to pay for that, believe me. We're all still furious about the whole thing and don't you think for one minute we're letting you out of our sight for the next little while, angelcakes. We're kinda all on super-protective mode right now."

I smiled, the only action I could do right now that didn't bring on a fresh wave of pain. We continued talking, changing to more light-hearted subjects, and Mikey's face brightened perceptibly. Raph entered the room a little while later, demanding he had a turn to talk to me, too. After pouting for a few minutes, Mikey finally obliged, switching places with his older brother. The two of us talked for some time, although admittedly he did most of the talking since I couldn't speak without making my chest yell at me in protest. To my surprise, Leonardo never came by that evening. Eventually, Donnie returned and had to insist that Raph leave so he could do some last checkups on me and get me to bed.

"No way, shell-brains. I'm not letting her out of my sight for the next seven years." Raph rumbled, ignoring my eye-roll. He reached into the water and scooped me up, cradling me like a baby against his chest. "I'll bring her to bed. You just tell me where to go."

"Fine." Don agreed, not wanting to deal with his brother's stubbornness at the moment. "Bring her into our bedroom first and get her some dry clothes. Then take her to her room and make sure she gets tucked in nice and tight. The checkups can wait."

Raphael set off toward the boys' shared bedroom, pausing only briefly to move the strands of heavy oriental beads that hung from the doorframe and separated the room from the rest of the lair. He was very careful not to bump my wings into anything lest he accidentally hurt me. I smiled up at him gratefully when he set me gently on his bed, helping me into a sitting position.

"Turn around while I change, silly goose. I'm pretty confident I can remember how to dress myself." I said, reaching for the pile of clothes at the end of his bed. He looked doubtful, noting the flash of pain that registered on my face as I reached for the clothes.

"Are you sure? I don't want you hurting yourself any more than you already are, kid."

"Absolutely. I'll just be a minute, then you can baby me all you want."

Raph half-frowned one last time, then obediently turned his back, moving to the doorway to block anybody from accidentally coming in. I changed quickly, letting the soaked clothes drop to the brick floor. The dry clothing felt warm on my skin. Raph shifted his weight to the other foot in the doorway, catching my attention. As I looked at his monstrous silhouette in the doorway, a sudden memory flashed across my memory.

 _"_ _And I thought I was the slowest one on the team!" Raph teased, leaping across yet another rooftop. I was fuming._

 _"_ _Come on, Raph. You know I can't do this nearly as fast as you can._ _My wings keep dragging me down when I jump." I called, continuing to chase after him._

 _"_ _So fly, kid. You know how to." He yelled over his shoulder._ _I gave an exasperated sigh, rolling under a water tower and getting back onto my feet in less than a second._

 _"_ _You know I don't. That time with April was just an accident."_

 _"_ _Accident or instinct? Come on, kid. You're a natural._ _And if you're not there's no way you're gonna make this jump!"_

 _Without a second thought, Raph threw himself over the edge of the sky-scraper we were on, plummeting down to the lower building next door. I came to a screeching halt, looking over the edge of the building frantically._ _Sure enough, Raph had landed safely on the building and was now waiting for me to follow in his insane footsteps._ _It_ was _a huge gap between the buildings, and some sixth sense told me there was no way for my tiny body to make it across without using my wings to glide across. I shook my head, not believing what I was about to do._ _Didn't Raph know I was still trying to figure this whole flying thing out?_

 _"_ _Come on, little bird! I'll catch you!" Raph called from below, taunting me._ _I glowered, took one last look at the inky-black night sky, and threw myself over the edge of the building._

 _I fell. Farther and farther, faster and faster I fell._ _'_ _I'm not going to make it!" I thought frantically, watching the lower building quickly advance._ _I was still twenty feet away horizontally and at this rate, I would miss the building by a good ten feet. Then, on pure instinct, my wings unfurled and I was able to guide myself onto the rooftop and into Raph's outstretched arms._ _He caught me the moment I landed on the roof, staggering back a few steps as I crashed into him._

 _"_ _I did it!" I gasped, my face alight with the elation at what I had just done. He gave me a huge grin._

 _"_ _I never doubted you, kid."_

Now, as I sat on top of his bed with my bruised and broken body aching all over, I was overcome with a huge love for this mutant who had become my older brother in the last few months and who had now risked his life to bring me home. All of them had—Leo, Donnie, Mikey, they had all come rushing to my aid. Who was I to deserve such love?

"Thank you, my sentry. You can turn around now." I said, motioning for him to come over. He grunted, approaching the bed and checking me over approvingly.

"You actually look like a normal human being again. Well, as human as you can get, anyway. You've actually got some color in your face again."

"The bath helped, I think" I said, allowing him to lift me into his arms. He carried me into my room, where Donnie and Mikey were already waiting for me. Mikey was sitting cross-legged on my bed, eagerly waiting for me. He held out his arms, silently commanding Raph to hand me over to him. He obliged, transferring me into his younger brother's arms. Mikey sat me down in his lap, cuddling me tightly without hurting me. I chuckled, not fighting him. He turned me around so my wings were against his chest, then wrapped his arms around my waist, effectively trapping me where I was.

"I'm not going anywhere, silly goose." I chided, giving a gentle laugh. He shrugged.

"I'd rather not risk it, angelfish. We lost you once, and I for one would rather not lose you again."

"Nor would I, my son." Said a deep voice from the hallway. My heart leapt.

"Sensei?" I asked, my voice catching. Master Splinter entered the room, his black eyes filled with relief at the sight of me safely in the arms of his sons.

"You are safe, my daughter," He sighed, coming over to the side of my bed. I reached over and wrapped my arms around his neck as best I could, loving the feel of his stringy fur beneath my palms. He wrapped a paw around my back, the other paw holding onto the walking stick he was so fond of. When I finally let go, he turned to Michelangelo.

"Be gentle with her, my son. She has been through a lot in the last few weeks."

"I know, sensei. I'll take care of her. We're all just going to talk for a bit and then we'll let her go to bed."

"Mind if I join?" asked a blue-clad turtle, walking into the room. I smiled broadly.

"About time you showed up, big brother. I was beginning to wonder if they had gotten you, too." I teased. He smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. I was briefing sensei on our mission."

"Indeed, Leonardo was just giving me the details of their rescue. It sounds like they were most successful," added Splinter, obviously pleased. I nodded, leaning back against Mikey's chest tiredly. I felt suddenly exhausted.

"I'll say. One minute I was in my own personal hell and the next I was being rushed to safely in Leo's arms. A very successful mission, in my opinion." I praised, snuggling deeper into Mikey's arms.

"'Your own personal hell'?" prompted Splinter. I nodded again, this time filled with sadness.

"Yes. They beat me, starved me, and nearly convinced me I was worthless. It was more awful than words can describe. Imagine your deepest fears and put them to life. I got to deal with those every day." I shuddered, a chill running through my body at the awful memories that resurfaced. Mikey squeezed me lightly, reminding me he was right there to protect me now. "But I'm here now, and now I'm safe. Thank goodness."

"Yes, daughter. You are most certainly safe here. You were sorely missed during your absence."

"I'll say," huffed Raph, throwing a look Leo's way. Leo blushed. I looked at his curiously, but he refused to answer. Finally, Donnie answered the unasked question.

"Leo was most insistent we get you back as soon as possible, sometimes pushing us a bit harder than we liked." He explained, grinning mischievously. Leo refused to meet my gaze.

Raph made some teasing comment that sent us all into easy laughter. Splinter retired to his room after a few minutes, saying he needed to meditate. As the minutes passed, everyone settled into more comfortable positions and we talked about pretty much everything there was to talk about. I don't remember when, but at some point I shifted in Mikey's lap and leaned my head against his shoulder, falling asleep almost instantly.

There, listening to his voice rumble through his chest as he joked with the others and hearing their voices surround me like a blanket, I was once again reminded that here I was safe. Here, with four turtles and a girl with wings, was a family that no amount of pain or trial was going to destroy. Here was a family that would last as long as time itself. For nothing could destroy us. Nothing could tear us apart. Because as weird and unusual as we were as individuals, together we were just like everybody else in this crazy, messed up world.

We were a family.


	26. Chapter 26 -- New Beginnings

p style="text-align: center;"strongHey guys! I just wanted to let you know that the story will be continuing in my second saga, if you will, called Homeward Bound. I already have the first few chapters added, so you should go check them out. Angel will find herself faced with an impossible choice and I'd love your input on what you think she should do. I'm sorry it's been so long, but thank you for not giving up on me! if y'all have any requests, PM me or let me know in the comments. Thank you! :)/strong/p 


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